Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-11-17
Through His
Nerves
A Duelist Is Conquered by an
UnskiIled Antagonist
By MALTBIE

lOVers-there are infinite varieties OF
it. Usually one of the lovers il the
villain Of the plot. the other the hero.
At FIRST the villain has the advantage,
but in the end virtue triumphs over
vice. This is a tale OF one girl with
two lovers. both OF whom aSe noble
young men. one of them possessing an
extraordinary nerve.
Il Is now more than half a century
since a family " Americans named
Wentworth made a tour abroad. WV
len Wentworth was then a girl Of
nineteen and considered by all who
knew her a lovely girl. She had been
brought up in s%eclusion and had there
fore not received much attention from
young men. The visiting ~ new and
TO her strange countries Mt n time when
few Americans went to Europe natu
rally produced upon her a marked i'm
preston Being of an artistic TEN.
permanent. she enjoyed especially the
works Of art to be found in Europe
and while In Rome had a special ad
vantage in being shown through the
marvellous collection OF art treasures
in the Vatican by a young French art
list named Armand Trudeau
This Young mar was especially fitted
by nature to captivate a young girl Of
an ideal makeup He was very hand
some. with large. dreamy eyes. a high
forehead and mn olive complexion. He
gave great promise as an artist and
wrote very clever verses He soon
won his way into Vivien's affections,
though he was opposed by her parents,
who did not wish her to marry a for
eigner.
So the matter stood when Egbert
KenwOrthy, an American Of an entire.
ly different type from Trudeau. ap.
peared in Rome and made the ac.
quaintance OF the Wentworths. While
Trudeau's face might have served for
a model Of st. Sebastian, Kenworthy's
would have made an admirable David.
He was the son of n New York bank
er and was taking an outing previous
to entering his fathers counting room.
These two men became rivals for
the hand of Miss Wentworth. Ken
worthy upon entering the list did not
know that an attachment had already
sprung up between her and Trudeau
The latter. being opposed by Mr.. and
Mrs. Wentworth. after devoting him
self to Vivien for a few weeks daw-
ding through the galleries, ceased his
attentions.
It was at this time that KenwOrthy
appeared on the scene. He was given
every encouragement by the parents
Of the girl he wished to win and not
long after his meeting with Vivien pro.
posed to her. She accepted him, but
with a frank avOwal that she preferred
Trudeau.
Kenworthy, though he had met the
disappointment Of his life. declined to
ask her father for her, contrary to her
wishes. He at once withdrew his at.
tentiOns and left Rome. Then Vivlen's
parents. being convinced that her heart
was fixed upon the artist, consented to
the match. and the couple became n
gagged.
The warn season in Italy was now
approaching, and 1t was decided by the
WentwOrths to go to Paris and accept
an invitation to visit Trudeau's family
at their chateau not far distant from
the capital. Trudeau was to accom-
pany them. They found his relatives
to be em%inently refined and were great
ly pleased with the intended cOnnec
ton.
But the marriage was destined not to
take place.
At that time there was in Paris Jules
Charter. one OF those duelists Of the
earlier part Of the nineteenth century
each Of whom tried to make a longer
list Of victims according to the code
duello than any Of his predecessors.
These persons have disappeared. and
dueling is now only practiced In
France by those who consider that
they have a cause. and even these ex
pect only n little bloodletting.
A painting Of Trudeau's was hung In
the salon. One day when the artist
was present chatting with friends who
were admiring his work Charter stop
ped before II and began to ridicule
it. Trudeau flushed and made a re
mark 1rOnlcal TO the CRITICS knowledge
OF art. Charter lightly slapped the
artist on the cheek.
II seems strange that a system
which justified murder should ever
have prevailed. The insult. which was
given publicly. forced Trudeau TO chal-
lenge the man who had slapped him
or be forever tabooed by his associates.
He had no skill whatever with any
weapon. and the affair must result in
his being v%anquished and probably kill
ed. He knew that he must suffer
death and wished to bid a last fare
well to his iancee. But this was not
permitted. She might take measures
to prevent his fighting and thus dis
grace him.
The morning after the insult Tru-
deau and Charter met In the Bols de
B%oulogne, and the latter added one
more name 10 the list OF men he had
killed. Trudeau's death was a great
-L-.N- - Will. WTW-A---NL ~. -