Year: 1866

can not--l dare not hight with you,
r murmured Varrel. .rr
: ooh no do not think to escape me thus
You refuse to fight Then take the punish
: ment of towards" And with that the
heavy thong of Colonel Lomond's riding
4 whip whistled through the air, and came
down on Varrels neck and shoulders twice,
} twisting round his face on the second occa.
sion, and leaving thin livid vale across
his cheek where it had cut into the flesh
VanePs first impulse was to shrink back
, ward with mingled cry of rage and pain;
but the next instant he closed with the Col
onel, and wrestling the whip from his hands,
flung it to the other end of the room.
Give me a sword-a pistol-a weapon
of any kind !" he cried, hoarsely. "This
vile treatment absolves me from all conse-
quences Colonel Lomond, your blood be
, upon your own head !"


The Colonel smiled sweetly ON him.
"Well spoken" he said, "only that you
express yourself somewhat after the Furi-
oso fashion. Your cry to arms is worth of
all praise, and hasten to comply with it.
In this cabinet, Sir, are couple of as pref
ty playthings as ever gladdened the eyes
of gentleman. Voita they are both alike
in every particular. The choice is yours"


Varreps fingers closed over the hilt of
one of the rapiers thus presented to him );
and while he tried its edge and temper, by
running his finger and thumb appreciative-
ly along it's length, and by bending its
point back nearly to the hilt, Colonel Lo-
mond disembarrassed himself Of the cum
brous over-coat in which he was enveloped; +;
and the next minute the two men fronted
each other.


Gardez-vous, Monsieur :" cried Colonel
Lomond as he made the first pass.


1t was thoroughly understood by both of
them that they were fighting for dear life
that neither of them must look for mercy
from the other Both of them were excel
lent swordsmen, but Sir Derwent had the
advantages of youth and agility on his
side, and he pressed the Colonel hardly,
who, while keeping up his defense warily,
yet felt himself compelled to retreat step
by step before the desperate lunges of his
antagonist


The clash of the swords seemed to rouse
Lenore from the stupor into which she had
fallen. With her hands pressed to her
temples, and with glaring eyeballs, that
! followed every movement of the comba-
tants, she staggered to her feet. Her lips
moved, but no sound came from them.
Perhaps she was asking herself whether
it were not all hideous nightmare, which
the first breath of reality would dissipate
forever. With the same mingled look of
horror and unbelief on her face she watched
the two men coming slowly down the room
again, for Colonel Lomond was still slight
| ly overborne by his more youthful antago-
mist. The rapiers clashed together bright
sparks flew from their polished blue-black
surface, as they struck each other and
bent and quivered like things of life in the
grasp of the sinewy hands that held them.


The combatants were just opposite the
spot where the half-demented Lenore was
standing like one incapable of motion,
when suddenly, at movement in tierce,
the point of Colonel Lomonds rapier snap
ped off; an advantage which Varrel in
stantly followed up with dexterous stroke,
which sent the Colonel's broken weapon
flying across the room. Lenore, with the
quick instinct of love, OWNED her fathers
danger and the same moment that the ra
pier was twisted out of his hand she sprang
forward with wild inarticulate cry to
shield him with her body from what she
knew must follow, and the sword of Varrel,
aimed at her fathers heart with all the
|
geance could lend to such a thrust, passed
instead lthrough the body of the hapless
girl Her fathers arms caught her as she
was falling. "Papa-kiss-forgive," she
murmured in his ear then stream of
blood burst from her lips, she shuddered
slightly, and was dead.


Colonel Lomond pressed his quivering
| lips tenderly on her forehead then lifting
her in his arms, he carried her to a couch.
Gle there for little while, sweet, foolish
darling" he said. Perhaps | may join
thee on thy journey before long"


Varrel, who was like man half-crazed,
would have rung for help, but Colonel Lo-
mond, by gesture, forbade him to do so.
You and |, Sir" said the Colonel, "have
still our little business to arrange"


"Great Heaven what would you more Z"
exclaimed Sir Derwent.


Revenge my daughters DEATH" said
Lomond.


"Her death was pure accident"


Granted. She died to save my life,
and that life | now devote to avenging her
memory What I said before | say again
only one of us two shall quit this room
alive Here are two pistols one Of them
is loaded, the other is unloaded. Choose
one of them. In three minutes that clock
on the chimney-piece will strike the hour
At the first stroke we will fire across this
table and may Heaven have mercy on
the soul of one of us p


&c 1t would be murder p said Varrel, in a
low voice, Will. a cold sweat broke out on
his ashen face.


"Call it by what name you will" said
Lomond but as | have said, so it shall
be- Dare to refuse, and by the great Fiend
of Darkness, whose true son you are, will
thrash you with yonder whip within
an inch of your life, and send you forth in
to the world branded forever as coward
and a rogue !"


Sir Derwent wiped the Precipitation off
his forehead with his lace-bordered hand
kerchief, and his dry lips moved in faint
protest His courage was beginning to
waver The slow, patient ferocity of his
enemy was not without its effect upon him.


CHOOSE |" said Colonel Lomond, as he
laid a brace of pistols on the table. Varrel
hesitated for an instant which to pick, and
Lomond smiled, grimly. No fresh arrange
ment of position was necessary, they being
already on opposite sides of the table on