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Actorvietvs
“You devil! . . . Well? Go on! Don’t leave us hanging here by our teeth.”
“My dear, I can’t tell you the silly adventure that brought about the first one. Enough to say that I did not know the lady was engaged to the gentleman — an artillery officer. However . . . when he lifted his riding cap and threatened to strike me over the face, I punched out hard and hit him a good one.
“The affair came before the court of honor, or whatever you call it, and we were to exchange three shots at ten or a dozen paces. I remember the referee was a short -legged chap; and when he was measuring off the ground one of the seconds cried out to him, ‘Jump, man! For God’s sake, jump!’ His short legs were giving us a rather close range.
“For each shot the referee was to count slowly from one to five. We could shoot any time within the count. I let go my first shot quick and wide — I didn’t want to kill a man.
“But he took his time, this artillerist, and a good aim, while I stood there with a discharged pistol in my hand. I heard the whizz of the bullet and felt something— there — on my ear. He’d grazed me, and I was bleeding; but it wasn’t serious enough to have us stopped.
“You may be sure I was taking no chances on the second shot. I felt that it was my life or his.” Mr. Leo’s little eyes for a moment glinted. “I gritted my teeth and shot straight to the line and got him in the leg. That finished it.”
“How had you spent the night?” I asked. “Walking the floor. It was my debut. And he was an artillery officer trained to arms.”
“Did you write any letters home ?”
“No.”
"Write home and let his father know? and catch