A SHOT AT TWELVE PACES

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 834, 12 March 1867, Page 3

A SHOT AT TWELVE PACES

(Prom " London Sooiety " for January.) When I was shooting in India, I one morning received a letter expressed in some such terms as these : — Dear Morley,— l have a little shooting party on, and want your assistance. Come as soon as possible to Harrison's bungalow ; we will make all arrangements there, and you can go and call on O'Flaherty at onoe. We are going to have a shot at large game for a change. Don't delay a moment. In these oases the scent should be followed while it's warm. The fellow's a big brute, and shall not escape me, if I know it. He's caught a Tartar this time, We'll put an ounce of lead into his oaroase before he's twenty- four hours older, or I'm not yotfrs, ever, Dennis O'Dowd, A tiger, by Jove ! I thought. A tiger at last. I had been waiting for weeks in the hope of getting a'^Bt at a tiger, and had been repeatedly tantalized with reports of one being somewhere in the neighbourhood. The jungle came down to within a very short distance of place where I was staying, and the country looked the very ideal of what a tiger country should be ; but I never had the luck to get a shot at one yet, although for some time past there had been rumours that a tiger was about. He had been seen here, and heard of there ; he had carried off a sheep in one place, and a bullock in another; but still no one had been able to find out anything as to his actual whereabouts . sufficiently definite to make it of any use our: going after him. But now, thought I, O'Dowd must have got the bearings of the beast pretty accurately. I could have wished that Dennis had been a little less flowery and ." tropical " in his account, but he always wjas a funny dog ; the drift of his letter was clear enough ; and if the tiger's having caught a Tartar was not a mere figure of speech, the animal must be a very fine one. The part about O'Flaherty puzzled me a little ; it had always struck me that he and O'Dowd were by no means warm friends,;. O'Flaherty was always chafling O'Dowd, and O'Dowd always vowing vengeance against O'Flaherty. But it was all fun, perhaps ; and O'Flaherty was a great hand at tiger shooting, I dared to say. At any rate, hurrc h for the tiger ! And I hurried off to Harrison's bungalow, where I found O'Dowd, with an expression of the utmost determination upon his face, drinking pale ale as if he meant it. ' Well, O'Dowd,' said 1^ we're to have a shot at him at last, are vreM::i 'That we are,' said he, 'qr^TH post him.' Post him I Post a tiger I < O'Dowd was still at his jokes. > ♦ Well 1 and when is it to b.ft P ' I asked. 'I won't have it delayed longer than tomorrow morning,' answered Dennis. * You must go to O'Flaherty at once, and if he prefers this evening — faith 1 all the better.' ( Oh ! it depends upon him, does it ? ' said I. 'Well, of course it does,' said O'Dowd, [ 'to a certain extent ; but not later than tomorrow morning mind. And now I'll tell you all about it.' ' Ay, let's hear all about the gentleman,' said I, eagerly. ' He's been playing with us long enough. We'll put a bullet into his hide now.' ' That we will, my boy,' returned O'Dowd. 1 Now just listen to me. As I was walking j up here last night, I met him sauntering' — | ' What 1 you met the beast, you say ? ' ' And you may call him a baste,' said O'Dowd. 'He was that for certain. He'd had too much ; 111 take my oath of that.' ' Glutted with carnage, 1 1 muttered. 'I could see it, at once,' continued O'Dowd ; ' I took his measure at a glance.' ' Well,' said I, anxious to know his size, ' and ' ♦ And I could see that he'd had a deal more than a taste of the cratur, though he carried it off in such a mighty easy way.' ' Carried it off easily, did he ? ' said I : a sheep or a bullock, of course. ' What ! he was off with it to his den, no doubt P ' 'No doubt,' said O'Dowd; 'he generally finishes his evening in his own den, the insatiable thief. Well, when he saw me, he came towards me, roaring — — ' ' Roaring ! Came towards you 1 ' I exclaimed. By Jove ! you took it very coolly. Didn't you run P ' ? 'Bun!' said O'Dowd, as if uncertain whether to be offended or not ; ' will you please to be serious, Morley. This is no joke I'm telling you.' 'No joke! My dear O'Dowd, I should think not, indeed. What did you do P ' ' When he saw me, I tell you, he pulls his cigar out of his mouth — — •' 'Eh! What! Cigar!' ' And conies towards me roaring out, •What are you doing out o' bed, O'Dowd ? Go home with you. You've got chewbercles in your lungs. Go home ! ' ' The tiger said,' I gasped out. ' Tiger ! What are you after, Morley.' ' Who said you'd got tubercle ? ' 'Who? Why, O'Flaherfcy.' 'Oh, confound O'Flaherty!' I said. ' Why the plague are you always bringing his name in ? Tell me about the tiger.' 'What tiger?' said O'Dowd. 'In the name of mystery, what tiger ? ' ' Why, the tiger we're going to shoot, of course.' 'I am going to shoot no tiger. lam going to shoot O'Flaherty.' ' Shoot O'Flaherty ! What are you going to shoot him for ? ' 'Why, didn't you understand. He told me I'd got chewbercles.' 'And so this precious note of yours,' I said, producing the epistle, ' was to tell me that you were going to fight O'Flaherty ? ' ' Faith ! and you may say that,' replied O'Dowd. ' I thought I'd put it delicately.' 'By Jove ! you put it so delicately that I thought it all referred to tiger shooting.' ' And did you so P ' said Dennis, with some pride. ' Begad ! I always was a neat hand at letter-writing.' 'But you're not serious, I hope, O'Dowd,' I said. ' You don't really mean that you intend to shoot O'Flaherty P ' . ' I'll be shot if I don't,' returned O'Dowd, very decidedly. ' He told me I'd got chewbercles in my lungs.' And there was very little doubt that O'Flaherty was right. A few years afterwards the fact became fatally evident. Death, and a post mortem examination, put it beyond all question. But even if there had been no grounds for it, the idea of shooting a man for such a reason was absurd. 'My dear fellow,' said I to O'Dowd, ' this must not be allowed to go on. I can't consent to act as your friend in such a case as this. It would be a different matter if he'd given you the lie, oor—'r — r —' •Given me the lie!' said O'Dowd.

. 'Didn't he tell me I'd got ohewbercles, when I haven't anything of the kind. Isn't that giving me the lie to all intents and , purposes ; giving me the lie in the throat , as deep as in the lungs, as Shakespeare says, eh ? Once for all, will you undertake , the matter?' I « I'd rather be excused,' I said. 'Very good,' said O'Dowd; ' then I wish you good morning. I'll go and call on ' O'Grady.' O'Grady ! The most determined fireeater in the empire. If he called on O'Grady it would end in a fight as certainly as doomsday. If I undertook it we might perhaps come to some arrangement; so, with much reluctance I told Dennis that he might command me. ' I knew you'd never spoil .sport,' said O'Dowd. 'Now, look here, Morley, you go at once to O'Flaherfcy, and give him to understand.that I require ■' 'For heaven's sake, my dear O'Dowd/ said I, anxiously, 'don't be too hard upon him. Put it as peaceably as you can.' ' Just what I am going to do,' said he. ♦ You go to O'Flaherty, and tell him that I require a written apology, which must contain a confession that he was drunk at the time of speaking, and a declaration of his full belief that I've no more gotchewbercies than he has. If he declines to give this, I expect immediate satisfaction. I can't put it more peaceably than that, now, can I P \ I certainly thought, it possible, but as *O'Dowd adhered'to his'own opinion, that did no good at all.. So, armed with this peaceable message, I took my way to O'Flaherty, whom I found sitting lazily upon a cane-bottomed chair, and surrounded by soda-water bottles. 'Ha! Morley,' said he, 'delighted to see you, upon me conscience. Will you take a peg * No ! You'd better. I've done little else ever since I got up. Well ! yes, I was a little sprung last night ; just a drappie in my cc, as that Scotch fellow says in his infernal brogue. Begad! looking back upon last night's proceedings, reminds me of those dissolving views, where each picture gets misty, and runs into the next.' ' I suppose, then, you have no very distinct recollection of the people you met last night, have you ? ' I inquired. 'Faith! no,' said he; 'my memory might be clearer.' ' Well, the fact is, I'm come upon a very unpleasant mission. You don't remember meeting O'Dowd, do you ? ' 'It's O'Dowd you mean! 1 said O'Flaherty, thoughtfully. 'Begad, then, I dont. 1 'Ah! You did meet him, though, and he says insulted him greatly.' • And did I insult him P ' said O'Flaherty, taking up a soda-water bottle. 'That's mighty curious. How did Idoit ? ' ' Well, it seems you said something about his having tubercle of the lung, and he does not like it. He's rather touchy about his chest, you know.' ' Ay, I know. And did I tell him that? ' 'Yes, you told him that he'd got tubercle ; and he took the speech so much to heart, that I am come from him to say that he expects an apology.' ' Begad, and were you told to say that ? ' ' I was indeed ; and lam sure, my dear fellow, you must see how extravagantly absurd we shall all make ourselves if this affair proceeds any further. Every mess-room in India will be laughing at the Tubercle duel. I am sure you must perceive the truth of this, and the absolute necessity of putting a stop to it at once. By Jove, sir, we shall neverhear the last of it till the day of our death.' ' You may say that, indeed,' said O'Flaherty, laughing. ' Faith, it won't be only O'Dowd who'll be troubled with chewbercles, will it?' 'No, that it won't. It's not generally considered an infectious disorder, but it will infect us, at any rait,' buid I. ' Change of air will be the only thing for us,' said O'Flaherty. ' Then look here, my dear O'Flaherty,' said I, pushing a writing-case towards him ; 'just scratch two or three lines to say that last night you were, as you've just said, troubled with a drappie in your cc ; and you may add — it's as well to do the thing handsomely while you are about it — that you have perfect faith— ha! ha! — perfect faith in the integrity of O'Dowd's lungs. Come, what do you say P ' Fop went the soda-water. ♦That,' said O'Flaherly. ' That ! Explain, please.' 'That's all the apology that yell get from me. 1 'But, my good sir, if you don't ap — explain in some way, O'Dowd insists upon fighting.' ' And by the blessed St. Patrick,' paid O'Flaherty, his speech becoming ten times more Irish than before at the mention of the national pastime ; — ' and by the blessed Saint Patrick, I'll humour his fancy. If it's foighting he manes, I'll foight him with all me sowl — with all the pleasure in life, begad. Ye can't fright Tim O'Flaherty into an apology by telling him that foighting's the alternative, I promise ye.' ' Fright you,' said I ; I never dreamed of frightening you. But reflect for a moment upon the absurdity of the whole jaffair. Come, old fellow, stretch a point, and save us from universal ridicule.' 'Faith, not I,' said O'Flaherty; 'the prospect don't trouble me at all to speak of.' ' Then you decline to apologise altogether?' ' There, if you haven't stated the case exactly.' ' Then I've no resource but to ask for the name of your friend, if you really will not be persuaded to——' 'I really can't undertake to be persuaded, my dear friend. Are you going P Well, good-bye ; I'll send some one to call upon you in a twinkling.' Disgusted exceedingly, I took my leave and returned to my quarters. The idea of two fellows shooting at each other for no better reason than that one had accused the other of having diseased lungs,- was so confoundedly ridiculous, that, setting aside the unpleasantness of being engaged in an affair of this kind at all, I would have given anything to be able to wa3h my hands of it. But what was to be done ? When the two i principals — both of them Irishmen, too — were resolved oh fighting, what could stop ? them? Perhaps O'Flaherty's friend, who would, of course, be of my mind about the serious farce in which we were compelled , to act, might hit upon some means of get- ; ting out of it. 1 would see what could be

, done when he arrived. It was really such I utter nonsense, that a peg was the only I thing to restore a fellow's equanimity after ; two such interviews. s Before I had finished the peg, O'Flaberi ty's friend made his appearance. He was unknown to me. We both bowed. ' Mr Morley, I belave. 1 i Upon my life another Irishman ; and my i hopes of a peaceable termination to the affair took flight at the very sound of his voice. 'Allow meto introduce myself—Lieut, i Doolan, — th Regiment. I come from Mr O'Flaherty.' ' Oh, yes,' said I, affecting to have been momentarily forgetful of the little matter. 4 Very happy to make your acquaintance, though I could wish it had been under pleasanter circumstances.' • Not at all, 1 said Doolan, in a tone of the most perfect contentment : ' not at all. It's not meself that's going to quarrel with the conditions.' This might be only politeness towards me, but I thought it sounded much more like satisfaction at his mission. 'Mr O'Flaherty has, no doubt, fully instructed you as to how the matter between himself and Mr O'Dowd stands.' 'Quite so, quite so,' said the lieutenant. .. 'Then I feel certain, Mr Doolan, that you must agree with me that this affair cannot be allowed to proceed.' Doolan simply stared. 'You can scarcely avoid feeling, I continued, ' that the cause of quarrel is too slight for us to permit our friends to peril their lives about such a trifle.' ' Thrifle ! ' ejaculated Doolan. ' Now, can't we hit upon some method for bringing to a peaceable issue a business which, if proceeded with to the end at present proposed, must, as I'm sure you perceive, bring nothing but ridicule on all engaged in it.' ' Faith, then,' said Mr Doolan, warmly, 'I perceive nothing of the kind. Hark ye, Mr Morley, I came here to arrange peaceably the time and place for this meeting, and not to dispute about the rights and wrongs of the matter, or to question the good sense which no doubt injuiced both the gentlemen to take the fair and honorable course which they have taken. May I beg, sir, that you will enter, as soon as you convaniently can, upon the rale business for which I am here.' There was nothing for it but to pocket the olive, and do as the lieutenant wished. Time and place were agreed upon, and Doolan rose to take his leave. As we were shaking hands in the most friendly manner, I said, 'By the way, Mr. Doolan, I must not forget to tell you that I have nothing at all in the shape of a duelling pistol ; perhaps you are better provided.' 'Make yourself perfectly easy about that, Mr. Morley,' said Doolan, who would no more have been without hair triggers than hair brushes ; ' I never travel without the pace-makers. Au revoir.' And Mr. Doolan took his departure, after receiving my assurance that I would call upon the surgeon, and make sure of his attendance upon the ground. I cheerfully undertook to do this, as I was determined that, at any rate, the surgeon should not be an Irishman, and I had Borne hopes that he might be able to suggest some way out of the difficulty. Accordingly, after writing a couple of lines to O'Dowd to say that I bad arranged everything, and to inform him of the time and place, I set off at once to look up the surgeon. His name was Hale, a thoroughly scientific man, devoted to his profession, and as little likely as anybody to have any sympathy with the romantic folly of the duel. I found him at home, in remarkably good spirits, as doctors generally are, and engaged upon a paper for the 'Lancet,' upon the subject of gunshot wounds. ' How are you, Hale ? ' said I. 'How do, Morley,' said he. 'What's the matter ? Anything wrong with you ? You look rather out of sorts. Digestion wrong, or what 13 it P * • Oh, there's nothing wrong with me,' I said ; ' don't flatter yourself. I want your help certainly, but not for myself. You'll be wanted about] half-past five this afternoon at ' •Eh P ' said Hale. * You don't mean to say that Mrs ' 'No, no,' said I, 'nothing of the kind — quite the reverse, indeed. No, the state of the case is this : — O'Dowd has taken umbrage at something O'Flaherty has said, and has insisted upon calling him out.' 'Ah, that's it, is it,' said Hale, his eyes brightening ; ' and you want me upon the ground in case of accident. Certainly, with all my heart. Pistols, of course,' — with a glance at his manuscript, — 4 nothing like pistols. You may depend upon me, Morley. You may be quite sure that I shall be there.' The villain was evidently in want of an illustration to prove some confounded theory of his own with regard to bullet wounds. His glance at the manuscript be--1 trayed him. 'No, but look here, Hale,' I said, 'the affair ought not to be allowed to go on.' ' You think not,' said he, as if entertaining the very gravest doubts as to the wisdom of my opinion. ' Certainly I think not ; and you'll think so, too, when you hear the case. Last night O'Flaherty, when slightly screwed, charged O'Dowd with having tubercle of the lung.' ' And a most insolent thing to say, too, though it's a positive fact all the same. In vino veritas, and no mistake. But still a man with any respect for himself, can't allow his lungs to be thrown in his face in that way without taking notice of it. And so O'Dowd demands an apology or a meeting, eh?' ' Just so. He insists upon an apology, and — it's really too absurd — a declaration from O'Flaherty that the charge brought against his lungs was unfounded.' ' Quite correct,' said Hale, ' and this declaration O'Flaherty is, of course, unable to make. His statement was a perfectly true one, and he can't unmake it without telling a falsehood. Upon my word, if you can see any way but one out of the difficulty, you are cleverer than L' ' I believe you are all gone mad,' I said, vexed beyond, bearing. ' There's not a creature who will look at the thing in a calm and reasonable manner. Why, do you realize, sir, that, just for a ridiculous word from a drunken man a valuable life may be lost ? ' ] ' Ah, very sad, very sad, indeed,' replied the doctor qoolly ; ' but it can't be helped. ; Tjje matter is gone too far now to be

stopped. A tweeting saryforthe honor bf'the-partle^-^nd'^^, laying his hand casually upon the ; _M.S.* acid speaking in a thoughtful manner--' may be. of infinite service in. the cause of-^-rrr' :(.:;.> He broke off there, but he meant the ?V "cause of science," I'm certain, confound him I He was devoted to his profession; was Hale. , --x 'Half-past five, at Harrison's bungalow, if you please, Mr Hale,' said I, coldly, and - walked out of the room, the man of science ? following me to the door, and assuring me, . in the cheerfulest and friendliest manner, that I might depend upon him absolutely ;.. - that he would sacrifice any number -of pa* .■■ tients rather than not be present ; and that he would be certain not to forget jhis in- r ; structions, . ;' ; | I had done my best, I had called upon Common Sense to help me, but CommonSense was nowhere to be found, Ihadap- .-..- ----pealed to the Dread of Kidicule, but it slept, and could not be awakened. I had asked Science to lend me a hand, but she wanted both hers to; seize her own opporitunities. There was no resource now but. to let the matter go on to its bitter end; !--•_ In affairs of this kind, you know, it is not ■ etiquette for the parties to go in company ■ to the battle ground, as pugilists do to aprize fight. We must : go-. separately to what BelTs] Life would call a likely spot,;: and meet there with distant politeness. As we had. to drive a good way 'to the place pitched upon by. Doolan and myself— an open space, well known to us all, a little J! way into the jungle— it was agreed that O'Flaberfcy and his second should go on an"< hour or two in advance, taking their rifles '. with them, in order, to pass the time with ' any sport that might fall in their way, and > : that I, with my principal and the surgeon, : should follow at the stated time. x ~. All of which happened as;arranged. The respondent and Doolan started early in the after- - noon, designing to lunch at the rendezvous; and shortly before six the appellant, Hale, and I followed, drove to the outskirts of the , jungle, there left our carriage, and strolled through the trees to the place. 'Here we are,* said Hale; 'true to our time; but I don't see our friends.' Euphemism for enemies. 'They've been here very lately,' said O'Dowd, pointing to the relics of a luncheon scattered about on the grass ; ' and faith, they've made mighty free with the eatables.' ' The end of a feast, most decidedly,' said Hale ; 'so we are quite ready for the beginning of a fray.' 'They'll make their appearance in a minute or two, no doubt,' I said. 'They're having a shot at something in the jungle, perhaps.' .'.'"'••; The crack of a rifle a short distance off V seemed to confirm my words. ' '. '":."*'" ''^.. 'They might have taken both rifles, with them, then, I'm thinking, exclaimed \ O'Dowd, picking up O'Flaherty's, which, lay on the grass. .■ . " , , We were standing about, O'Dowd examining the rifle, which was loaded, and. Hale the pale ale bottles, which were all discharged, when we were surprised by seeing Doolan running towards us with . every appearance of extreme terror. ' What's the matter ?' we all shouted. ' Here !' he cried. ' Come here. Bring the rifle. O'Flaherty!s been carried off by a tiger!' =• --• • ' ■ ~ r'■ 'Now, Morley,' said O'Dowd, 'you've got your wish at last. Come along I' And we all set off running towards Doolan, who had stopped, and was loading his rifle. 'Did ye hit him, Phil P did ye hit him P' said O'Dowd, when we reached the lieutenant. "' 'Hit him, is itP f said Doolan. 'No, faith I I daren't try. I fired, in hopes of frightening him. Come along ! He jumped on us from behind, as we were sitting on the bank there, caught poor Tim by the shoulder, and trundled off with him, niver saying a word, as if six feet two, were nothing to spake of at all. Come, along I 1 We were hurrying after him all the while. 'I jumped up, picked up the rifle : 'Stop, ye thief!' I called out, 'or I'll shoot you !' He gave a wag with his tail,. the baste, as much as to say, ' Shoot away }. ye daren't, hit me for fear of killing Tim ; and, begorra, I'll make myself safe enough for the ' matter of that.' And at the word thecratur chucked poor Tim on to his back as a fox. does with a goose, and away he went again — Come along! — safer than ever, for I could see more of O'Flaherty now than I could of him, bad luck to him I and I wished I'd shot at first. I daredn't touch the trigger for the life of me, now, you understand ; so I followed till he stopped, after a bit, and lay down with Tim before him, and then I shot, not at him, for fear of killing Tim, but in the hope of frightening the brute. But sorra a bit did it frighten him ; it only made him gnash his teeth, and Tim was between 'em, yell recollect. So then I ran back for the other rifle, and met you, and — and have a care now, we can't be far off him, unless he's eloped with Tim again, which the saints forbid, for it's a mighty unpleasant way of travelling." He had not eloped with Tim. He was still lying, where Doolan had left him, with his mouth so close to poor O'Flaherty's ear, that he looked as if he were whispering into it. What was to be done? The very thought of firing into him across O'Flaherty made my hand shake. We all stood still for a moment or two, staring at the tiger and his victim. 'Now then, who's going to sb,oot ?' said Doolan. Somebody must, or faith poor Tim will be minced veal before he knows s where he is. But I'll be hanged if it's me that's going to do it. You're the best shot, Dennis.' ; . ' Shoot, O'Dowd,' said I. < I daren't, for the life of me.' ♦Faith it's a risky shot for certain,' said O'Dowd ; ' but if we stand here and do nothing, there'll be no chance for him at all. Now, hark ye gentlemen,' he said, . throwing up his head and looking, tubercle or not, a thoroughly fine fellow, 'you all know, I'm sure, that though I was anxious enough to shoot O'Flaherty standing opposite me at twelve paces, I'd be the last ; man in the. world to take advantage, of him, now. All right — all right. There, that's : enough! Upon me sowl, then, I never / thought otherwise for a moment. Look here, now. Give "Morley your rifle, Phil, and you and Hale stand a. trifle back. Nq\v Morley, my boy, I'm going to creep iua. thought nearer. Keep you just behmd^jjei l I'll bla2e away at him first ; and I shall hit him, don't be afraid for that. If he-springs , right at us, cover him well and let fly. If he only, jumps up, hand me your .r^e^uid .

ritbang at hik «gS; D'ye understand '.tt»r^-->."r i ■' '■•:-"•"• •Perfectly.' ♦Follow me, then,' O'Dowd stepped gently towards the tiger, and I followed Ms steps closely, When "we were within a dozen yards of the animal, thetiger dropped O'Flaherty's arm, which it had in its mouth, and lifted its head. O'Dowd sank on to his knee instantly, looked along his barrel for one second, and flwd. With the most awful yell I ever heard the tiger sprang up, gave one bound towards us, and then, before I'd time to mark him properly, rolled over on the long grass. ♦Twelve feet from the nose to the tip of thetaili Til bet a hundred,' said O'Dowd, quietly. I handed him the loaded rifle, and we all, except Doolan, who dashed recklessly over to O'Maherty, walked cautiously towards the fallen tiger. The bullet had passed through his eye into his brain, and he was as dead as his greatest grandfather. ' Dead as a herring ! ' I cried; ♦Begad, and so he is,' cried Doolan, who wm bending over ©'Flaherty $ 'and so he is. Come here, Hale, can't you. Bad luck to vye; you're a pretty doctor to stand staring at a tiger when there's a dead Christian in want of your assistance five y ards off, Come here, can't you ! ' We all ran at once to ©'Flaherty. • Oh, Tim, Tim,' whined Doolan, whatever injuiced you to go and die in a hurry MketbigP' ♦Die I 1 said Hale, sharply; "what the dickens are you talking about dying for P The man's not dead. Not a bit of it. His left arm's broken, certainly, broken in two places; and he's nicely contused all over, I'll stake my reputation; pretty well frightened, no doubt; I confess I am, without so much cause ; but, dead ! Bless my soul, sir, will you have the goodness to allow him; a breath of air ? ' The breatH of air was allowed him. In a very short time he recovered consciousness ; requested to know ia a strong Irish accent whereabouts he was; betrayed by a few words that he was under the impression that he had lost his way in returning from a heavy dinner, and had gone to sleep by the road side 1 ; then recovered his senses completely {listened to the whole history, white Hale tied his arm up as well as it could be done ; and finally, with much assistance, .rose to his feet. •Well, gentlemen, 1 said I, cheerfully, "I suppose we may return at once, for the business which we came about will scarcely be proceeded with now, I apprehend.' ♦I decidedly forbid Mr. O'Flaherty's proceeding with the matter to-day,' said Hale, sulkily, laying strong emphasis upon thelasfcword; • B'aith, Hale,' said O'Flaherty, ♦ye may even forbid it altogether. I should be a more insensible brute than that tiger there if I could not apologize now without feeling any humiliation in doing so. Give us your hand, Dennis, and receive my apologies. I was. screwed when I met you the other night,' and— — - •' ' You shan't say another word, Tim,' said O'Dowd ; ♦if you do, I'll never spake to ye again. Come along ; let's go at once. We'll send the servants for the beast yonder.' We all returned in high spirits ; and that was the first and last duel I ever was in.