DUEL BETWEEN FRED AND AN ENGLISH LIEUTENANT.
Even at this distant day, I think that I have a faint recollection of
walking through the streets of Melbourne at a late hour on the afternoon
that we dined with the governor--and I also think that we were escorted
to our home by Colonel Hensen, and a number of other gentlemen, although
who they were I have not the slightest recollection.
It was a late hour the next morning, when we awoke with aching heads and
parched throats. Our faithful friend, Smith, was stirring, and by the
aroma we knew that a strong dish of coffee had been prepared by his
hands, and that it awaited us as soon as we rose--an act which we had no
inclination to do; but a sight of his sorrowful face as he spread the
table, made me alter my mind.
I slipped on my clothes, and bathed my heated head in cool water just
taken from the river, and felt refreshed by the operation; and by the
time Fred had gone through with the same process, breakfast was
pronounced ready, and down to it we sat with but scant appetites.
"What have you got such a long face on for this morning?" I asked of the
stockman, who hardly raised his eyes while he was drinking his coffee.
"Can you ask?" he replied, looking up, and I saw by the expression of
his face that he had not slept during the night.
"Can I ask?" I repeated, "to be sure I can. We got a little out of the
way last night, but the circumstance is too common to provoke remark in
Australia."
"Ah, it was not that I was thinking about. I was considering how unkind
the governor has treated me, in not granting me freedom after so many
years of good conduct," replied Smith.
"O, is that all?" I cried, with an appearance of indifference. "I
thought you were sick, or had heard some bad news."
I saw the poor fellow's face flush at my apparently unkind speech, and I
saw an expression of surprise in his blue eyes which cut me to the
heart. I sprang from the table, and taking from my coat pocket the two
pardons, laid them before him without a word of remark.
His eyes were, the instant he read his name, blinded with tears. He laid
his head upon the table, and wept long and bitterly without speaking,
and his stout frame shook with the violence of his emotion. We suffered
him to continue without interruption; but when he did look up, he
grasped our hands, and pressed them convulsively, muttering,--
"At length, O, at length, I'm a free man, and no longer subject to a
keeper's nod. I can call my soul and body my own property, and look a
policeman in the face without trembling. Ah, blessed liberty, how much I
have longed for thee!"
He kissed the pardon--he kissed his name, which was written in a bold
hand on the document--and then pressed to his lips the signature of the
governor.
"Do you now feel truly happy?" asked Fred.
"I feel so joyous that there is nothing on earth which I crave," replied
Smith.
"Then we may ask you to lend us your aid before many days, and I hope
that you will not refuse."
"Me refuse? Ask of me the most difficult task and I will do it; for to
you do I owe freedom," cried our friend, enthusiastically.
Fred was about to confide to him the secret of the buried treasure, and
solicit his aid, when we were interrupted by the entrance of a stranger,
dressed in the uniform of an English officer.
"I beg your pardon, sirs," he said, glancing around the hut with a
slightly supercilious air at the want of comfort which was plainly
manifest, "but I think I have entered the wrong house."
"We cannot tell whether you have or not, until we know what your
business is," replied Fred.
"My business has reference to two gentlemen who dined with the governor
yesterday, and were conspicuous at the fire night before last," replied
the officer, who was a young man, and of prepossessing appearance.
"Then it is very probable we are the parties," said Fred, carelessly.
"We dined with the governor yesterday, and we did something towards
extinguishing the fire on Collins Street night before last."
"One other question, gentlemen, and I shall be certain. Are you
Americans?" demanded the officer.
"We claim the United States as our home, and to the best of our belief,
we were born there," I answered, wondering what the fellow was driving
at.
"Then you will excuse me for the disagreeable duty which I have taken
upon myself. Night before last one of you gentlemen addressed words of
an insulting nature to a brother officer. As long as he thought you were
beneath the rank of gentlemen he did not choose to notice them, but the
governor having recognized you as an equal, my friend feels that he can
safely demand satisfaction, or an ample apology for your remark."
"Why," said Fred, with a soft smile, "this looks to me like a
challenge."
"It is one," replied the Englishman.
"And I am expected to retract the words which I uttered, or be shot?"
asked Fred.
"If you are the gentleman who uttered them, I must reply, yes," answered
the officer.
"Well, upon my word. I hardly know what I did say," cried Fred. "Do you
recollect?" he added, appealing to me.
I shook my head, and remained silent. I was thinking of the danger my
friend was in, and wondering how I could get him out of it.
"I think that my friend had the hilt of his sword in his mouth, and your
allusion was to the infantile instinct which prompted him to do so,"
replied the officer, looking red in the face.
"O," laughed Fred, "did the youngster take offence at my words? Tell him
that hereafter I will swear that he was brought up on a bottle.'
"This is no apology, sir," cried the officer, inclined to laugh.
"Isn't it? Well, it's all that I am disposed to give, at present;" and
Fred helped himself to a fresh cup of coffee.
"By the way," I continued, "perhaps you have not been to breakfast. Pray
be seated, and have a dish of coffee."
The officer hesitated for a moment, but thinking, perhaps, that he could
best arrange the affair while sipping coffee, he finally took his seat
upon an old box, while Smith helped him to a cracked cup minus a saucer.
"Then there is no way of arranging this little affair, is there?" asked
the officer, whom we now understood was Lieutenant Merriam.
"O, yes, there are half a dozen ways," replied Fred, coolly. "In the
first place, your friend can withdraw his challenge--"
"Never!" exclaimed the officer, firmly. "We feel too deeply injured."
"And in the next place, I can refuse to accept it," Fred continued,
without noticing the interruption.
"But you will apologize," cried Merriam, eagerly. "Say that you will do
that, and I will take my leave."
"Then I shall do no such thing, for we are not often forced into the
company of her majesty's officers, and we wish to improve the
acquaintance."
The lieutenant looked at Fred as though mentally calculating what kind
of a man he was, but in spite of his dignity and bold face, he smiled,
and held out his cup for more coffee.
"Then I suppose that you will refer me to a friend with whom I can
consult, and settle all preliminary arrangements?" inquired the officer.
"Tell me," asked Fred, for the first time looking serious, "is your
friend really in earnest in this matter?"
"I have to inform you that, he is, sir; and that, as his friend, I have
promised to see him through the affair with honor," our visitor replied.
"Then I will gratify his lighting propensities, as I do not feel
disposed to retract words which, under the circumstances, he should have
considered as harmless. Jack, my boy," Fred said, turning to me, "will
you settle with this gentleman when the affair shall come off, and act
by me the part of a friend?"
I knew the nature of the man too well to try and dissuade him from the
duel--the most that I could do was to stand by him and endeavor to turn
every thing to his advantage. I gave him the promise he required, when
turning to Smith, who had sat at the table a patient listener, during
the whole conversation, Fred said--
"Come, Smith, you and I will visit the scene of the fire, and leave them
together."
"Now to business," the lieutenant said. "You are the challenged party,
and have the right to choose weapons. I have a beautiful pair of pistols
at the barracks, which I wish you would make choice of. You will fall in
love with them at the first sight."
"Very probable," I replied, coolly; "but if pistols are to settle the
quarrel, have a pair of Colt's revolvers which I know will command your
admiration. Here are the two instruments," and, as I spoke, I laid them
on the table.
"A murderous looking weapon, and not suited for the use of gentlemen at
ten paces," Merriam said, handling the revolvers with great respect.
"So I thought," I replied composedly, "and have resolved to have nothing
to do with pistols of any kind. They are an unsatisfactory weapon, and a
man has got to be a good shot to put a ball just where he pleases at ten
paces."
"Ah, then you have concluded to try the sword? A more gentlemanly weapon
it would be hard to find. Let swords decide it, then."
I saw a glow of satisfaction upon the face of the lieutenant, and I knew
that his principal was an adept in the use of the sword as well as
though he had told me in so many words.
"I cannot make choice of the sword," I replied, "because my friend does
not understand its use, and therefore the advantage would be all on your
side."
"Then pray name what weapon you will fight with," Merriam said,
impatiently.
"This is the weapon we will use," I replied, producing, to the
astonishment of the officer, my three foot six inch barrel rifle, which,
during our absence the day before, Smith had cleaned and polished up
thoroughly.
"What is that?" he asked, astonished.
"This," I replied, "is an American rifle, and a very good one it is, I
assure you."
"But we cannot fight with only one, and unless another is produced
precisely like it, some other weapon will have to be resorted to," cried
the officer, with a slight expression of joy.
"I am aware of that," I replied coolly, and to his astonishment I
presented him with a fac-simile of the first.
"These rifles," I remarked, "were both made by the same person, and he
was instructed to manufacture them without a shade of difference in
regard to size or weight. The only method we have of telling them apart
is to consult the stocks, where our names are engraved. Examine them
attentively, and then select whichever you please. One is as good as the
other, and each carries well."
The Englishman stared at the rifles with a countenance blank with
dismay. They were weapons which he was entirely unacquainted with, and
he felt that the safety of his principal demanded a remonstrance against
their use.
"I object to the use of rifles," he said, at length, firmly and
decidedly. "My friend is entirely unacquainted with these kind of
weapons, and it would be madness on his part to go to the field with
such odds against him."
I listened calmly, and with my mind unchanged. I knew that Fred's safety
depended upon my selection, and inwardly vowed that if he had got to
fight, he should settle the difficulty with his own weapons.
"This quarrel," I remarked, "is not of our seeking. A few words were
spoken in jest by my friend, and as soon as spoken were forgotten; and
it is probable that even now we should not remember the man we insulted.
If my friend has got to fight, he shall be placed upon an equality with
his adversary."
"But I do not call this equality," echoed the lieutenant, gazing with
looks of dismay at the rifles.
"Neither do I feel disposed to risk my friend's life with swords, a
weapon which he knows nothing of," I replied.
"Then perhaps we had better settle the matter satisfactorily without
fighting," Mr. Merriam said.
"With all my heart," I cried, with alacrity. "I will meet you half way
in any scheme of pacification."
"Then let your friend say that he is sorry for using the words, and send
a note to that effect to my principal."
"We can't do that," I replied, after a moment's thought. "But I will
tell you what we will do. We will say that during all our travels we
never saw a man who could suck a sword hilt so gracefully as your
friend."
"Pshaw," cried the Englishman with a grim smile, "don't let us trifle
over the matter, it is too serious."
"I know that, and it's the very reason why I wish to settle the quarrel
without bloodshed," I answered.
"Then you decline to apologize?" inquired Merriam, after a short pause,
during which he helped himself to another cup of coffee.
"Only on the grounds which I have stated," I answered.
"And you still insist upon rifles being used?" continued he.
"A just regard which I have for my friend compels me to say that I
cannot conscientiously consent to use any other weapon. At the same time
I protest against being called to the field for a few words spoken in
jest."
The Englishman slowly sipped his coffee and remained deep in thought, as
though there was some matter on his mind in which he wished
enlightenment, yet feared to broach the subject. At length he showed his
hand, and I saw his move.
"The rifle is extensively used in America, I believe," Merriam said,
carelessly.
"In some sections of the country it is a favorite weapon," I replied.
"I have heard much of the rifle shooting in the United States, and have
often longed to witness a specimen of the skill of its marksmen. Has
your friend seen much service with that weapon?"
"He has lived in a city since he was twelve years of age," I replied,
evasively, "and in cities there is not much chance to practise."
"Then he is not a skilful marksman?" cried Merriam, eagerly.
"He is fair," I replied. "In Vermont he would be called only a
third-rate marksman."
"And pray, may I ask what you call a first class marksman?"
"A good rifle shot is a man who can hit a shilling piece five times out
of six, standing at a distance which requires a telescope to see the
money."
"And what is a third-class marksman?" asked the lieutenant, in dismay.
"He can hit the same only twice out of six times," I replied,
composedly.
"The devil!" I heard my visitor mutter, between his teeth; but he was
too much of an Englishman to retreat, and I fancied that he grew more
and more determined when he learned that the odds were against him.
"The only matter that now remains unsettled," the lieutenant said, "is
when the affair is to come off. What time do you think you shall be at
leisure?"
"At any hour that suits your convenience."
"Would to-morrow morning be too soon?" hinted the officer.
"That time is as well as at a later period."
"And the distance? We must not talk about feet, but how many rods our
friends are to be placed apart?" Merriam said.
"I have given the subject a moment's consideration," I replied, "and
think that ten rods will be better for your friend than double that
distance."
"I shall certainly venture to disagree with you on that point," replied
the lieutenant. "I think that twenty rods is full near enough."
"Why, they will hardly be able to distinguish each other so far apart,"
I said; "but you shall have it as you wish."
"Thank you. Then nothing farther remains but to point out a very
beautiful spot where the business can be settled in the most amicable
manner. If you will step to the door I think I can show you the field,
with not a tree or hill that can line either party on ground. Ah, yes,
there it is, away to the right after passing the end of the road, and
beyond the white fence. Do you see it?"
I nodded in the affirmative.
"Well, say five in the morning to be on the ground. Does that suit your
convenience?"
"Perfectly."
"Then good-by. By the way, may I ask you to bring the rifles to the
ground? I am sorry to trouble you, but in the case you know--"
"I understand. Be under no concern; I will see that the guns are in good
condition, and ready for your loading."
"Thank you. Another request I have to make. May I ask that you will not
bring a surgeon on the ground, but trust to the regimental one whom we
shall have present. You are strangers, and by expressing a desire for a
doctor, might communicate an alarm to the police, which would have a
tendency to postpone the meeting."
"I thank you for the suggestion, sir," I answered, "and will do as you
request; although I frankly tell you, that I hope there will be no
occasion for a surgeon to exercise his duties."
"The affair has gone too far to be stopped without blood-letting, I
think," replied Merriam, shaking his head, "although with some men I
should not yet give up all hope of a pacification."
He shook me warmly by the hand as he took his departure, and I was left
alone to meditate on the disagreeable duty which I had assumed for my
best friend. I little thought, at the time I was so calmly making the
arrangements for the duel, that his adversary, Lieutenant Wattles, had
already killed two men, in spite of his youth, and that a more
determined duellist did not exist on the island.
I had just mixed a strong glass of punch, and was about to raise it to
my lips, for the purpose of looking cheerful when Fred returned, when I
heard his voice.
"Ah, that is stealing a march on us, old boy," he shouted, pleasantly.
"Here have we been parading the dusty streets of Melbourne, and my eyes,
ears, and mouth are filled with dirt and cobble stones. However, we saw
nothing of the city, for such clouds of dust filled the air that we had
to hire a boy with a lantern to lead us home. Hand me the bottle, for
I'm famished for want of a drink."
While he was filling his glass, he ran on, talking about half a dozen
subjects, and it was not until Smith asked the result of the interview,
that he would be quiet enough to listen to my communication.
"I have arranged every thing," I said. "We are to use the rifles, and
meet to-morrow morning early."
"And did you make no attempts at a reconciliation?" demanded Smith,
reproachfully.
"Don't answer that question, Jack," Fred said, seriously. "I placed my
life and honor in your hands, and I am satisfied that you dealt with me
as though I were a brother."
I grasped his extended hand, and for a few moments we sat thus, without
exchanging a word, both buried in thought and conjuring up reminiscences
of the past, when a few months before we had left Boston to search for
gold in California, and then, actuated by a spirit of adventure, had
emigrated to Australia, still cherishing the hope of returning home with
riches and with honor.
"I shall write a few letters to-day, Jack," Fred said, at length. "One
of them will be addressed to you, and if any thing should happen you
will find full directions how to dispose of the few things which I own."
"Let me meet the man," blubbered Smith. "I'm of no account, and if
killed, shan't be missed, while both of you have something to live for."
"It cannot be," replied Fred. "I insulted the gentleman, and to me alone
does he look for redress. God knows I do not desire the man's blood, and
still hope that I shall not be forced to spill it."
"At least promise that I may accompany you to the field?" Smith said.
His request was readily complied with; but all day long Smith's face
seemed as though he had lost his only friends.
The day wore away slowly. We dined with Murden, and chatted gayly about
old times, and congratulated him on an addition which had been made to
his pay, owing to the capture of bushrangers which had been effected by
his command. We hardly touched our lips to the wine which he freely
circulated; and at an early hour took our leave, much to his surprise,
and without his suspecting the business which was to occupy our
attention in the morning.
We went to bed early, leaving Smith to wake us at a suitable hour in the
morning, which he promised to do, as he declared he felt too nervous to
sleep. Sure enough, daylight was just stealing along the eastern horizon
when we were called and found a steaming pot of hot coffee upon the
table, which the careful stockman had prepared for us previous to our
leaving for the field.
We drank our coffee in solemn silence, and then started for the
rendezvous, Smith carrying the rifles and ammunition, and uttering
comments at every step at the folly of our proceedings. Just as we
locked the door, the old cracked bell upon the church, near the villa
of our friend, struck the hour of four. Finding that we had plenty of
time, we walked along quite leisurely, meeting only a few people, and
those longshoremen, who were hurrying to their work on the quays, and
fearful of being late.
No one paid any attention to us, for the carrying of arms in Melbourne
was common in those days; and so without remark we gained the crossing,
and then continuing on for a short distance, entered an open space, far
enough from the road to escape observation, and there awaited our
adversaries.
We did not have to wait long. A carriage containing three persons
stopped within gunshot of where we stood, and presently we saw Merriam
and his friend, and a short, fat gentleman in an undress uniform,
carrying a small box under his arm, advance towards us.
Lieutenants Wattles and Merriam were smoking, and appeared perfectly
cool and unconcerned regarding the result. We heard the old gentleman,
whom we presumed to be the surgeon, remonstrating at something that did
not appear to please him, and from what we could overhear, we found that
he disapproved of the use of cigars at so early an hour in the morning.
"Ah, the divil, smile, will ye, at what I say, but it's poor Harris, of
the thirty-sixth, who had cause to regret it. A finer officer the queen
never had; and yet he would disarrange his nerves by the use of tobacco
at an early hour in the morning, and what was the consequence? Killed at
ten paces by a fellow who hardly ever saw a pistol before. Its truth I'm
spaking, and ye well know it."
The doctor's companions did not pay much attention to his remarks, for
they continued to smoke perfectly unconcerned, and while they were
advancing slowly towards us we could hear the Irish surgeon lecturing
them for their want of generalship.
"It's a pretty mess ye're in now, and the devil thank ye. The young
fellows are on the ground afore us, and that don't look like fear, and
by the same token, they have got their murderous-looking instruments
with them. Bad luck to it, couldn't ye manage somewhat differently than
to want to fight two Americans, who were born wid rifles in their
hands."
Wattles made a reply, but it was too low and indistinct for us to hear,
and the next moment the party were within speaking distance.
The principals raised their caps and then walked one side, while Merriam
and myself shook hands, and then I was introduced to the surgeon, Doctor
Michael O'Haraty, a genuine specimen of an Irish gentleman.
"We arranged the distance yesterday, and there is nothing to be settled
but who shall give the word," Merriam said.
"Don't let that bother your brains, for I'll do that without, the
asking. Ah, it's many a signal I've given, and sometimes they've bin
fatal ones, too," the doctor said.
I agreed to that, and then calling Smith, I desired Merriam to make
choice of the rifle which he liked best. He was some time selecting, but
at length hit upon mine, thus leaving Fred at liberty to use his own
weapon.
"I use the same size balls that you do," I said, selecting one from some
half a dozen that Smith held in his hand.
I carefully loaded Fred's rifle, and offered to assist Merriam, but he
declined; and even when I told him that he had got a third more powder
than was necessary, he did not heed my advice, and perhaps I was glad
that he did not.
"Now, thin," cried the doctor, "do you take hold of this tape line, my
man, and we'll measure off twenty rods in a jiffey."
Smith, who was appealed to, did as he was directed, and in a short time
we had our men stationed and waiting for a signal which I longed for,
yet dreaded.
Fred looked a shade paler, but he was as firm as a rock; and when I
shook hands with him and handed him his rifle, I could not discover the
least tremor of nerves, or any unusual agitation.
"If I should fall," Fred said, once more shaking me by the hand, "you
will find in the letter which is directed to you, full instructions how
to dispose of my effects. God bless you, Jack; I never loved you half as
well as I do now."
I brushed away a tear, and with a voice choked by emotion asked if there
was any thing which he wished to say before the word was given.
"I did think," he replied, examining his adversary's bearing, "that I
would fire over his head; but I see that he is bent on mischief, and is
determined to kill me, if possible. Under the circumstances I think that
I shall do no great wrong if I touch him slightly."
"Do as you please," I replied, stepping back, and joining the doctor,
who held a white handkerchief in one hand and his snuffbox in the other.
"Let me speak to Mr. Fred before you give the signal?" asked Smith.
"Not a word, my man," returned the doctor, regaling his nose with a
pinch of snuff, and scanning the bearing of the men with evident
delight.
"It's beautiful they look," murmured the doctor, in a low tone, and then
elevating his voice, he continued, "the signal will be 'one, two,
three,' and then, the dropping of this handkerchief. Mind, gentlemen,
and reserve your fire until you see the handkerchief lave my hand. Now,
thin, are ye ready?"
Wattles and Fred braced themselves as though expecting a shock, drew
their caps a little more over their eyes, and signified that they were.
"One!" cried the doctor, in a loud voice.
The duellists brought their rifles to their shoulders, fully cocked.
"Two!" exclaimed the doctor.
The rifles were levelled, and eager eyes glanced along the tubes.
"Three!"
For a second after the word was spoken the doctor held the white
handkerchief aloft; but as it slowly fell towards the ground, there was
but one report, so closely did they fire together.
I had not taken my eyes from Fred, and to my joy I saw that he did not
move. I glanced towards Wattles. He had dropped his rifle and was
rubbing his right arm, which hung down powerless by his side.
"By the mass," cried the doctor, grabbing his box of instruments and
running towards his brother officer, "the Americans have got the best of
this fight, as I knew they would with their d----d rifles. But, by Saint
Patrick, it was illegantly done, and that I'll stick to as long as I
live."