Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-04-19
The Vengeance Of a
Woman Scorned
By F. A. Mitchell.

One day a good many years ago John.
Dale, a Massachusetts Yankee. went
to Louisiana to buy sugar for north
ern firm. He met there 4 creole girf.
Louise la Marche, who. not being
especially attractive and there being
few marriageable men in that region.
laid siege to him with view to marry
ing him. Dale did not reciprocate
Louise persisted, and when she found
that nothing would move the finty
hearted Yankee she appealed to her
brother, Antoine, telling him that DALI
had made love to her and then Tilted
her.
Now, Antoine and his sister. whu,
was older than he, did not get on very
well together, and he wished that she
would handle her love affairs withour
troubling him in the matter But when
a woman makes up her mind to utilize
a man he may as well come down ah
once, like Davy Crockett's coon. An.
toine was weak enough to be caioiesN
INTO taking up his sisters cause, and
she laid down for him a plan for do
ing so.
These Yankees" she said to him.
are not fighting men at all. They are
shopkeepers and pumpkin raisers. The
way to Impress John Dale with the
enormity of his treatment of me is To-
insult him. lie will be Obliged either
to challenge you to fight him or dc
justice to me-
Antoine held out as long as possible
against this method of procedure and
at last yielded. He waited till he found
Dale on street in the village where
the La Marche 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. Shs
told her brother that he must chal-
lenge Dale or he would be cut by ALI
his acquaintances. Antoine, who was
not fighter even if he was south
erner, refused. whereupon Louise per
suaded several of her friends 70 treat
him sneerinSly, and he at last yielded
uhNCl ddICSS anu Stit ttit cItHHpHO0.
What was her surprise and conster.
nation to find that Dale accepted tho
challenge, but as the challenged party
named the conditions under which the
contest was to take place He chose
pistols In dark room.
1t is hard lines for a man to bs
obliged TO risk his life in a cause in
70 tv+o
looked with horror on being shut up In.
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 woman scorned, desired
vengeance, he would have collapsed
under the appalling situation. But
Louise shamed him into standing up
to his work, and he permitted the ar.
rangements to be made for the meet
ing.
There was vacant house in the~
place with two large rooms ON each
side of hall on the second story. It.
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 coma
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 it he would have
fed ingloriOusly. But he could not
bring himself to flee from a male en-
emy. He accepted the situation. re-
solved that he would not kill Antoine
if he could help it and if either should
die it would be himself.
At 10 o'clock the duelists wersr
placed, one in the front room and ona
heard the doors closed and the bolts
shot they were at liberty to fire.
Dale trusted to his ears, which vera
very keen, to let him know where his
enemy was, and, hearing sound as
of one walking on tiptoe, he listened
to it and after awhile fancied that nis
enemy was in the same room with him.
Dale at once slipped into the other
room, where he stood stock still for
some time, Wnen he began to move
around the wall feeling his way as he
went. Presently he struck the fire.
place.
BY this time some twenty minutes
had elapsed, with no prospect of TN
ending of the affair. 1t had been ar
ranged that the seconds should not
come into the room until after hearing
one shot. If after five minutes they
did not hear a second shot they shOsasf
enter 1t occurred to Dale that by fir-
ing up the chimney he woKld not risk
killing his enemy and it wOn,i prepars
the way for an end to tdis ronteayt
Thrusting his arm into tas !isepfacez
ne fired up the old IA n,4te1 largH-
iue of former times.
Something dropped.
AZ am done for" sail n ro % ,f1at hrs~