The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-03-14
The vengeance Of a
Woman Sconed
BY F. a. MICHEL


10 louisiana to buy sugar for a north
erh hrm. He met there a creole girl.
Loufse Ia Marche. who. not being
especially attractive and there being
rev marriageable men in that region,
laid siege TO him with a view to marry.
ing him Dale did not reciprocate
Louise persisted. and when She found
that nothing would move the fiinty
hearted Yankee she appealed TO her
orother, Antoine, telling him that Dale
had made love to her and then lifted
her.
Now, Antoine and his sister. who
was older than he did not get on very
wen together, and he wished thar she
would handle her love affairs without
troubling him in the matter. But when
woman makes up her mind 10 utilize
man he may AS well come down at
once, Ike Davy Crockett's coon. An
tome was weak enough to be caioled
INTO taking up his sisters cause. and
she laid down for him a plan for do
ing so.
These Yankees" she said 10 him
are not fighting men AT all. They are
shopkeepers and pumpkin raisers. The
way 10 impress John Dale with the
enormity of his treatment Of me is 10
insult him. lie will he Obliged either
TO challenge you 10 fight him or do
Justice to me-
Antoine held out as long as possible
against this method OF procedure and
at last yielded. lie waited till he found
Dale ON street in the village where
the La Marchc family lived and. going
up to him, slapped him in the face.
But the affair did not turn out as ex.
pected The Yankee contented himself
with returning the slap
That would have ended the matter
had not Louise been behind It, She
told her brother that he must chal-
lensc Dale or he would be cut by all
his acquantances. Antoine, who was
not tighter even If he was south
erner. refused. whereupon Louise per
suaded several of her friends to treat
him sncerincly. and lie at last yielded
under duress and sent the challenge.
What was her surprise and conster.
nation to find that Dale accepted the
challenge but as the challenged party
named the conditions under which the
contest was To take place. lie chose
pistols In dark room.
Ii is hard lines for a man to be
obliged To risk his life In cause IN
which he takes no interest Antoine
locked with horror on being shut up in
a dark room with man who was
there to kill him
Had Antoine not been propped up by
his sister who by this time, consider
ing herself a woman scorncd, desired
vengeance. lie would have collapsed
under the appalling situation. But
Louise shamcd him into standing up
10 his work. aud he permitted the ar
rangements 10 lie made for the meet
ing
There was vacant house in the
place with two large rooms on each
side OF a hall on the second story. Ii
was agreed that the duel should take
place In one of these suits Both
rooms possessed large open fireplaces.
In order that no light should permeate
them, the affair was appointed to come
off at 10 o'clock at night
Now, Dale had no more heart for the
, affair than his opponent. Had the mat
ter concerned the woman alone who
was at the bottom of 1t he would have
fed ingloriously. But he could not
bring himself to Zee from a male en-
envy. lie accepted the situation, re
solved that he would not kill Antoine
if he could help it and If either should
die it would bc himself
At 10 o'clock the duelists were
placed. one in the front room and one
in the rear room. As soon as they
heard the doors closed and the bolts
shot they were at liberty to fire.
Dale trusted TO his ears which were
very keen, to let him know where his
enemy was. and, hearing sound as
of one walking on tiptoe, he listened
To il and after awhile fancied that his
enemy was in the same room with him
Dale at once slipped into the other
room. where he stood stock still for
some time. when he began to move
around the wall, feeling his way as h.
went Presently he struck the fire
place
By this time some twenty minutes
had elapsed with no prospect OF an
ending of the affair. IL had been ar
ranged that the seconds should not
come into the room until after hearin-
one shot II after five minutes they
did not hear second shot they should
enter. IL occurred TO Dale that by fir
Ing M the chimney he would not risk
Killing his enemy and it would prepare
the way for an end to the contest
Thrusting his arm into the fireplace,
he fired NJ the old fashioned large
nue of former times.
Something dropped.
Il am done for" said voice that be
recognized as that OF La Marche.
Dale realized at once that the boy