Year: 1873

At length the action had reached the
| fatal moment! As we crept closer togeth-
| er the three unsuccessful shots on either
| side had been delivered amidst breathIess
expectation on the part of the audience; !;
| the pistol had been knocked from May
| burns hand, the suppressed terror and
emotion SO palpable in a large assembly
when its interest Is thoroughly aroused
| and absorbed was at its height.


A great deal of business was made OF
| the reloading for the next encounter, my
| seconds drawing aside, as also did May
| burns, for the same purpose. Then the
| weapons were handed to us with great
ceremony, and we were once more face to
face; as the dialogue expressed it, "at
such close quarters as could scarcely fail
| to bring about fatal issue"


| 1t was, of course, again my turn to fire
| first. | took the pistol from Caugar's
hand Would that mine at that moment
had been paralyzed forever!


Amidst the breathless expectations OF
the audience | raised my arm. By a
glance Rutherstone renewed his caution
against my habit of firing too high, and
when the word was given, determining
| that he should have no complaint against


me, l, leveling the muzzle straight at his
| breast, pulled the trigger! The report, so


much louder than usual, and the sharp re-
coil of the pistol, in themselves during


that brief second of time alarmed me,
| and as | saw Rutherstone, instead Of step
ping toward me and falling back, as |
have described he did at rehearsal, spring
high into the air, and then fall forward on
his face at my feet, l knew instinctively
| what had happened! Not so, however,
Julia Halworth, who, waiting for her cue
| at the wing, rushed in, and, like a clever
| and ready actress, adapted her movements
to the changed position of her lovers


body; not So either, the audience, who
Numbered its approval at the startling eff
| feet of the scene, as the actdrop de


scended.


! Little indeed did the spectators conceive
| the reality of what they had witnessed !;
| little, indeed, did they conceive that they
had beheld veritable duel to the death,


and least Of all could they imagine what


frightful tragedy was passing on the
| other side of that curtain before the multi
| tude now released from the tension in


which it had been held by the perform


ance, was beginning to laugh and talk


after its habitual fashion at the play. For
some minutes the actual condition OF
| things was not even realized behind the


scenes. With the exception of myself and


one other actor on the stage nobody be-
| lieved but what Rutherstone, still 10 quote


the technical phrase, had altered his
| business on the spur Of the moment.
But when Julia had been helped to her
| feet, and he still made no effort to rise, a
panic seized those who stood near-a


panic which increased to fearful terror


as thin line of blood began slowly to flow


across the boards from his body.


| They raised him. He was deadi Al


ready the expression of agony on his face
was becoming settled AID rigid, and
| there, upon the very spot where, few


minutes before, he had been going through


the mimic show, preparing for his fate, he
| met it-and by my hand! But how?
| What had CHANGED? AS if by maric, a
surgeon was at his side, laying tdre his
| breast, and in a moment the mystery way
solved The ramrod had been left in the
pistol, and had gone straight into his
heart


X x
Hours passed before poor Julia could
| be made to realize this discovery; but no
sooner had we there upon the stage made
| it than to add to the situation, call was
raised for the actor in the front of the
| house, and the band simultaneously struck
up the estr'dcte music.


1t was dreadful moment-too dreadful
| longer to dwell on! The explanation was
simple, and it flowed easily enough from
the glib tongue Of our smooth-spoken man
ager Could he ever hold up his head
again? Could he ever forgive himself for
| his carelessness? From my observation
| of him subsequently, he did both but he
said, and this perhaps was not altogether


untrue that the event had cast dreadful
| shadow over the rest of his life; it GER


tainly had over mine. At any rate, as my
| second, in reloading the pistol for the last
! time, he pleaded that he must by accident,
| in the nervousness and excitement of a
| first night, have forgotten to remove the


ramrod. Nothing more could be urged,


but it had the effect of making me for


swear the players art; [ never could 60


through the mockery of pretense again.


The barrier to Caugar's alliance with
| Miss Halworth was removed, but need |


say that she never gave her hand to him?