CHAPTER IX
A DUEL
Captain Lister was very much more nervous than his principal as theydrove on to the ground. In spite of Frank's confidence he could notbring himself to believe that the young fellow could be a match for apractised duellist, although he had, after he had left Frank's room theevening before, gone into the town and knocked up the gunmaker, who hadsometime before gone to bed. When, however, Captain Lister confided tohim the nature of his errand, he fully confirmed what Frank had said.
"Of course, I have not seen him stand up before a man with a pistol inhis hand," he said, "but as far as shooting goes I would back himagainst any man in England; and I don't think, Captain Lister, that youneed be afraid of him in the matter of nerve. Pistol shooting dependsupon two things--nerve and eye; and he could never be the shot he is ifhe had not an extraordinary amount of both qualities. I will wager thathe will be as cool as a cucumber. How are they to stand?"
"Back to back, and to turn at the signal of a pistol shot."
"Then he is all right, Captain. You need not worry about him. He is asquick as lightning, and he will get first shot, never fear, and morethan that, I wouldn't mind betting that he carries off one of thefellow's fingers."
"Why, how do you know that?" Captain Lister asked in surprise. "He can'thave been here since I left him."
"No, sir, he has not been here; but he told me that if he ever got intoa duel he would aim at his opponent's hand, and he has been practisingspecially for that. He had a target made on purpose, but that did notplease him, and we rigged out an arm holding a pistol and fixed it tothe target just in the position it would be if the painted figure werefiring at him. We had to have a rough sort of hand made of iron, for itwould have cost a fortune if had been made of anything else. Sometimeshe would have it painted white, sometimes gray, sometimes black, eitherof which it might be, if a man wore gloves, but it did not make anydifference to him; and I have seen him hit it twenty times following,over and over again."
All this had been very reassuring to Captain Lister, and if it had notbeen for Marshall's reputation he would have gone to the place ofmeeting feeling confident that all would go well, but the fact that itwas Frank's first duel, while Marshall had been in some eight or tenaffairs, prevented his feeling otherwise than nervous as to the result.They were first upon the ground; the major and doctor arriving twominutes later.
"You may as well tell the major, Captain Lister, that he need not bealarmed. He is looking terribly anxious, and so is the doctor."
Captain Lister nodded, and went up to them as they dismounted from thegig. "I fancy that it is going to be all right, doctor," he said, "Wyatttells me so himself, and what he says is confirmed by Woodall, thegunsmith. It seems the lad is an extraordinarily good shot. I told youlast night that he had been practising a good deal, but I did not liketo raise your hopes too high until I had seen Woodall. I will bet you aguinea that Wyatt comes out of it all right."
"I could not bet on it, Lister, though I would pay the guinea withgreater pleasure than I ever felt at winning one; but I hear thatMarshall is a very quick shot."
"So is Wyatt, major, and as the young 'un has been practising regularly,I fancy he will be as quick or quicker than the other."
"Well, I hope to heaven that it may turn out so. Nothing would please memore than that Wyatt should put a ball into the fellow's head. Men likehim are a curse to the army."
"I don't think he will put a ball in his head, major, but I shall not besurprised if he carries off one of his fingers. He has conscientiousscruples about killing the man, and he is going to aim at his hand."
The Major shook his head. "I am afraid that settles it, Lister. It maydo for a good shot to try experiments of that sort with a bad one, butnot against a man like Marshall. It would be far better for him to aimat the body. That is a good big mark, and if he is as good a shot as yousay, and is quick enough to pull his trigger first, it would makematters safe, but as to aiming at his hand it would be sheer madness.You tell him what I think of it. Ah! here comes the others."
As soon as Captain Marshall and his second alighted, the latter cameforward and spoke to Captain Lister. They talked for a minute togetherand then proceeded to choose the ground. This was quickly done, as therewere no trees, and it being a cloudy morning neither party would haveany advantage from the light. The two cases of pistols were thenexamined. They were of the same calibre and about the same weight, andMarshall's second at once agreed to Captain Lister's proposal that eachshould fire with his own pistol, so that neither should be placed at thedisadvantage of using a weapon that he was unaccustomed to. CaptainLister proposed that they should toss which of the two seconds shouldfire the signal, but Rankin said, "I would rather not do it, CaptainLister. I need hardly tell you that I would give anything not to be herein my present capacity, and I would very much rather that a third partyshould fire it--either your major or the surgeon."
Lister went across to the major, who at once consented to give thesignal. The pistols were then loaded, the ground measured, and theprincipals placed in position. The major took two pistols--one loadedwith ball, the other with powder only, and then placed himself some tenpaces on one side of the line of fire.
"Now," he said, "gentlemen, I shall say 'Are you ready?' and onreceiving no answer shall fire; but mind I am determined that if eitherof you makes a move to turn, or raises his arm by as much as an inchfrom his side before he hears the shot I will shoot him down at once. Doyou both understand that?"
Both answered "Yes."
He waited a moment, and then said "Are you ready?" Then a second laterhe fired. Both the antagonists turned swiftly on their heels, their armsgoing up as they did so. Then the two shots rang out. They seemed almostsimultaneous; but Captain Lister, whose eyes were fixed on Marshall, sawthat his hand jerked in the act of firing, and that his ball must haveflown high. At the same moment his pistol fell to the ground, and hestaggered back a pace. Then, with an exclamation of fury, he caught hisright hand in his left, and stood rocking himself in pain. His secondand the surgeon ran up to him.
"Are you hit, Marshall?" the former said.
"Of course I am hit," he said savagely. "You don't suppose I should havedropped the pistol if I hadn't been. I believe that young villain hascarried off one of my fingers."
"I must protest against this language, Marshall," Lieutenant Rankin saidindignantly. "I am bound to bear testimony that your opponent has actedextremely well, and that his conduct has been that of an honourablegentleman."
At this moment Captain Marshall turned deadly pale and would have fallenhad not Rankin and the doctor caught him, and lowered him gradually tothe ground.
"He will do no more shooting," the surgeon said grimly, "the ball hascarried off his trigger finger. Cut his coat-sleeve off, Rankin. Don'tyou see he is bleeding a great deal? Lister, please bring me thosebandages at once."
Captain Lister,--who had, as soon as he saw Marshall's pistol fall, runup to Frank and grasped his hand warmly, saying, "Thank heaven, my dearlad, that it has turned out as you said it would. I congratulate youwith all my heart,"--at once ran to fetch the bandages, and they allgathered round the wounded man, Frank turning very white as he saw himlying insensible.
"What is it, doctor? I aimed at his hand. I hope it has not done anyserious damage, except there." The latter was too busy to answer. "Bringthe tourniquet," he said to Rankin, and as he ran off he looked up atthe major.
"The ball evidently struck the first finger on the knuckle, and went inbetween the first and middle finger and then ran up the wrist and alongthe arm, and has gone out, as you see above the elbow, cutting anartery as it went, and smashing the bone just above the elbow. The firstthing is to stop the bleeding."
"CAPTAIN MARSHALL'S PISTOL FELL TO THE GROUND, AND HESTAGGERED BACK A PACE."]
He took the tourniquet from Rankin, and applied it two or three inchesabove the elbow, and continued to screw until the rush of blood ceased.Then he bandaged the arm and hand and
fastened it across Marshall'schest. "That is all I can do now," he said. "I think there is no doubt Ishall have to amputate above the elbow; but we will take him back first.I wish we had a stretcher."
"We have a stretcher," the major said. "I told off four men with onehalf an hour before we started. I thought we should want it to bringWyatt back." He put a whistle to his lips and blew loudly. A minutelater four troopers ran out from behind a cottage a hundred yards away.They had, no doubt, been furtively observing the combat, for there wasan expression of gladness and triumph on their faces as they arrived.
"Lay Captain Marshall on the stretcher," the surgeon said. "Lift himcarefully and carry him to his quarters. I will drive on at once and getthings ready. I suppose, Mr. Rankin, you will go with him. You hadbetter cover him up with a rug. Have either of you any brandy? I forgotto bring any with me."
"I have a flask," the major replied. "I will get it for you at once."
"We may as well be off, Wyatt," Captain Lister said to Frank; "it is ofno use your waiting here any longer. We can do no good."
"I am sorry he is hurt so," Frank said, as they drove off.
"Then you will be the only man that is," Captain Lister replied. "Youhave rid the army of a pest; that is to say, you have rendered himharmless. Possibly he may not retire. There are plenty of men in theservice who have lost an arm; however, I should think he will go. Thedisgrace will be worse to him than the wound."
"Still, I am heartily sorry that I hurt him so much," Frank repeated. "Imeant to take off one or two of his fingers, and spoil his shooting forthe rest of his life; but I never thought of the ball going up his armas it did."
"Well, if you had not hit him where you did, you would be lying on thatstretcher now. It was a close thing between the two shots, not more thana fifth of a second, I should say, and if you had only hit him in thebody, I have no doubt that he would have fired before he fell; and ifever a man meant to kill another, he did. I could see it in his eye, ashe stood there waiting for the signal. Well, Wyatt, you can stop in thearmy until you get to be a general, but one thing is morally certain,that after this affair no one will venture to insult you, and your firstduel is likely to be your last."
"I sincerely trust so," Frank said gravely. "I think I can say thatassuredly I shall never be the first to insult anyone else, and that ifever I fight again, it will, as in this case, not be in my own quarrel."
As they drove along the straight road towards the barracks, they saw anumber of men clustered outside the gate.
"They are on the look-out," Captain Lister said. "They will have heardfrom the mess waiters the news of the quarrel last night, and I don'tsuppose there was a soul in barracks that did not know what our errandwas when we drove out this morning. I expect if you had been killed theywould have had to move either the Lancers' depot or ours away fromCanterbury, for the men of the two regiments would have been sure tohave fought whenever they met each other."
As soon as they were near enough to the gates for their figures to bemade out, there was a sudden movement among the men. Several took offtheir caps and waved them, while others threw them into the air.
"This is not exactly discipline, Wyatt," Captain Lister said, with asmile; "but it shows conclusively enough that you are a favourite withthe men."
There were roars of cheering as they went in through the gates, in spiteof Captain Lister holding up his hand and shaking his head. As theydrove across the barrack square to Frank's quarters the subalterns camerushing out. "Glad indeed to see you back again, Wyatt," the first whorun up exclaimed; "so it was arranged without fighting after all?"
"Not at all, Macalister," Captain Lister replied, as he reined in thehorse at Frank's door. "Wyatt did exactly what he told me he was goingto do--carried off Marshall's trigger-finger. But the bullet did what hehad not intended it should--ran up the arm and smashed it above theelbow, and the doctor says that he thinks the arm will have to comeoff."
A shout of satisfaction rose from the group, and Wilmington graspedFrank's hand as he leapt down.
"Thank God that you are safe, Wyatt," he exclaimed. "I should never haveforgiven myself if anything had happened to you. Of course, what yousaid last night cheered me a good deal, but I could hardly help thinkingafterwards that you had made the best of it for that purpose."
"No, I did not, Wilmington. I felt absolutely confident that I shouldhit him on the hand. Now, I want some breakfast; I ordered it to beready before I started."
"Well, you are a cool hand, Wyatt," Lister said. "If we ever get into ahand-to-hand affair with the French, I hope you will take me under yourprotection."
"We will see about it," Frank laughed. "Well, come up now. I ordered thebreakfast for two, and I see Smith is bringing the dishes across fromthe kitchen."
"Oh, I say, Wyatt, you must let the rest of us up too. We can't wait tohear all about it until you have done."
"Come up, by all means. There is really nothing to tell you."
However, as the breakfast was being eaten, Captain Lister answered allquestions.
"So he did not take it well," one of the subalterns said. "That is justwhat you would expect from a fellow like that."
"I don't think we should be too hard on him in that respect. It is verytrying to any man's temper when he makes absolutely sure of doing athing and is beaten by a novice. It was surprise, no doubt, as well aspain--and I fancy the pain was pretty sharp--that caused him to lose histemper. I expect that if he had been fighting with an old hand whom hethought dangerous, he would have borne the wound in a very differentway. Now, look here, lads, there is one thing that you must bear inmind. Don't treat this affair as if it were a sort of triumph for thecorps. I have no doubt that all the fellows in the Lancers will be everybit as much pleased as we are, at the way things have turned out; but wemust not assume that. I should say you had much better not make anyallusion to the affair, unless others speak to you about it. Of course,it will make a great deal of talk; there is no getting over that. Butdon't let it be a subject to be discussed in the mess-room. Duelsbetween officers of different regiments have, before now, led to a lotof bad feeling, and I have known one such duel lead to half a dozenothers. The Lancers are in no way to blame for Marshall's conduct; but,if they found any disposition among us to crow over it, it might giverise to ill-feeling, which would be bad enough if it were merely tworegiments in garrison together, but would be a terrible nuisance in adepot where there is a common mess. Therefore, when the matter is talkedover, as it is sure to be, it is best to let the talking be done byothers, and to keep your own mouths closed. Wyatt is the last fellow inthe world to wish to pose as a conquering hero."
"Thank you, Lister," Frank said. "I am sure I never wish to hear thething mentioned again. I have taken a lot of pains to become a goodshot, and it seems that I have a natural aptitude that way. There isnothing more to feel boastful about than if nature had made me a giant,and I had thereby been able to thrash a man of ordinary strength. I amvery glad that I have put it out of Marshall's power to bully other men,and, as he had several times done, to force them into duels, when hisskill gave him such an advantage that it was nothing short of murder. Ithink that I shall go across to the major, and ask him to give me afortnight's leave. I have not been away since I joined, and I had aletter yesterday saying that my aunt was not very well; so I should liketo run down to Weymouth to see her."
"It would be a very good plan, Wyatt, and I am sure the major will giveyou leave at once."
When he had finished his breakfast, Frank went across to the major'squarters.
"I have not had time to congratulate you yet, Wyatt," the major saidwarmly, as he entered. "You have rendered a service to the army ingeneral, and to our regiment in particular; for it would have been anasty thing if it had got about that one of us had been grossly insultedwithout taking the matter up. If you had not interfered, the commandanttold me that he should have reported the matter at headquarters. HadWilmington taken it up, he would have refused to let the matter g
o on,until he had received an answer from the Horse-guards; and he would havedone the same in your case, if you had not used such strong language.Your words practically forced Marshall into challenging you. Still,although we, who were present, should all have approved of Wilmington'snot being allowed to throw away his life by going out with Marshall, onecan't deny that it would have caused unpleasantness. Those who onlyheard that one of our fellows had put up with a gross insult withouttaking any steps, and had, so to speak, sheltered himself under theauthority of the commandant, would have considered it an ugly business,and we should have found it very unpleasant when we joined the army inSpain. Therefore, we all feel very much indebted to you for havingchampioned the honour of the regiment. You are a marvellous shot, lad,and you will have one satisfaction, which is, that when this affair istalked about, and it is known that you said beforehand that you intendedto take off Marshall's trigger-finger, and that you did it, there is nochance of your ever being forced into a quarrel as long as you remain inthe army."
"Thank you, Major. I have just come across to ask you if you will allowme a fortnight's leave of absence. I really want to pay a visit to myaunt at Weymouth, and I think it will be a very good plan for me to getaway from here until this affair has blown over a little."
"A very good plan indeed, my lad. Certainly, you can have your leave. Iwill draw it out this moment, and take it over to the commandant, whowill, I am sure, countersign it at once. Which way do you think ofgoing?"
"I think I will go by the coach, that comes along here at twelveo'clock, to Dover; that is, if I see in the paper that there is any hoysailing for the west this evening or to-morrow. The wind is in the east,and, with luck, I should get down there sooner than by going up to townand taking the coach."
"Here is the list of sailings," the major said, taking up a broad-sheetfrom a side table. "Yes, the hoy _Keepsake_ will sail, weatherpermitting, from Dover this evening for Plymouth, touching atSouthampton and Weymouth. That would just suit you. You had better nothave more than a fortnight, for I think it likely we may get orders forthe two troops to sail before long. Be sure and leave your address atthe orderly-room."
From the major's Frank went straight to Strelinski's lodging, and toldhim that he would have a fortnight's holiday.
"I do not want it," the Pole said; "but I am glad that you should haveone, for you have been working very hard lately, and it is now nearlynine months since you came down here."
"I will get you to write an account of my progress, Strelinski. I toldSir Robert Wilson that he should have one every three months, and thethird is nearly due now. He was very pleased at your last report."
"This will be even better, for you have been able to give a good dealmore time to it, since you have not had so many drills. Besides,progress is not so manifest at first, until one is able to converse alittle; after that it goes on rapidly."
Strelinski at once sat down and wrote the report.
Frank read it with some interest, for Strelinski was not in the habit ofsaying what he thought of his progress.
"I think you have made this too strong," he said, as he laid it down.
"Not at all," the Pole replied. "We are able to talk freely now, and itis very seldom that you are at a loss for a word. I can sayconscientiously that you are now able to converse rapidly and well init. I could not say that your writing leaves nothing to be desired.Having acquired it so much by ear and conversation, you are not perfectin your grammar or construction when you write it; but that is of littleconsequence. Sir Robert Wilson will naturally write in his own language,and is not likely to have despatches to send in Russian. You are quitefit to act as an interpreter to deliver messages, and to carry on anyordinary conversation. There is a report that there has been a duel thismorning, and that an officer was carried through the town on astretcher."
"Yes. The wound is not a very serious one, but he will probably lose hisforearm."
"And it was you who hit him," the Pole said quietly.
"How do you know that, Strelinski?"
"I guessed it. You have told me how you were practising, and how wellyou were getting on. I guessed you had some special purpose for takingso much pains, and you did not come in yesterday evening as usual. Then,too, you tell me he was hit in the arm, and you mentioned the other daythat you were practising at that, and showed me the iron hand you hadhad made to hold a pistol."
"Well, yes, it was I. The fellow insulted a young comrade in myregiment, knowing well that he could not shoot; so I took it up, andthere was an end of it."
"I am glad I knew nothing about it until it was all over. I should havebeen very unhappy if I had known that you were going to risk your life."
"I do not think there was any risk in it. As I told you, I havepractised shooting very quickly, and felt sure that I should get firstshot, and knew that there was no chance of my missing. The man was adangerous fellow, and has fought many duels, but he will not now fightany more; and he will, I should think, leave the service. Well, I mustnot stay any longer, for I go by the twelve o'clock coach, and have towrite a letter to Sir Robert Wilson before I start."
Frank caught the coach without difficulty, and on arriving at Dover wentdown and took his berth on board the hoy.
"We shall start at eight sharp," the skipper said.
"I will be on board in good time. I think you are likely to have a quickpassage."
"Yes, if the wind holds we shall be at Southampton tomorrow evening. Ishall get out the cargo by torchlight, for with this wind I don't wantto lose an hour. I don't know how much there will be to take in, but Ireckon anyhow that we shall be off by nine o'clock in the morning, andif we have luck shall be at Weymouth before dark."
Frank went on shore to the hotel and dined, and spent the time until thehour fixed for sailing in going over the fortifications. The voyage wasa quick and pleasant one, and although the accommodation was rough itwas vastly superior to that which he had been accustomed to when goingout in the fishing boats. The skipper's calculations as to time wereverified, and they entered the river at Weymouth forty-eight hours afterleaving Dover. Mrs. Troutbeck was delighted to see Frank. He had indeedwritten a fortnight before, saying he hoped to be able before long toget a few days' leave and should come down to see her, and she wastherefore not greatly surprised at his arrival.
"You have grown a good deal, my dear boy," she said after they hadchatted together for some time, "but you are not changed so much as Iexpected."
"Well, Aunt, I don't see how I can change much till the hair begins togrow on my face. Putting on uniform doesn't in itself make one a man;but of course I feel older, and I think I have grown a bit. But there isno chance of my ever shooting up like Julian. Of course, you have heardnothing from him, Aunt, or you would have written to me at once!"
"Nothing, Frank. That fisherman, Bill, came in the other day, and saidhe had only heard what we knew before, that he had been sent to gaol,and that he had been marched away with a batch of prisoners somewhereinland. The smugglers could not learn what prison they had gone to. Theysaid that the people of Nantes did not know that, as the guards who wentwith them from there only received orders to take them a short distance,and they were then handed over to other soldiers, who went so muchfurther with them, and as their escort might be changed a dozen timesnot even the officials at Nantes had an idea where they were taken to atlast."
"No news of Markham, Aunt?"
"Only that he is one of the regular crew of that French lugger now."
Frank looked up all his old friends and spent a pleasant week. His visitdid his aunt a great deal of good, and the servant told him that she wasquite a different woman since he had come home again.
"She missed you wonderful, Master Frank, and though she used to go aboutas usual, she did not seem to take an interest in things as she didbefore. I expect, now that she has seen you again, and has perked up abit, she will fall into her old ways more regular. Now she has heardfrom you all about what you are doing, and your friends, and
such like,and she knows that you are well and not changed, she will feel morecomfortable, and won't be always worriting herself. Mr. Henderson oftencomes in and talks about you, and that always seems to do her good. AndColonel Chambers, he looks in sometimes, and she tells me that they boththink a great deal of you, and of course that pleases her; and she looksforward wonderful to your letters coming regular once a week. I don'tthink you need trouble yourself about her, Master Frank. She has notreally much the matter with her; only you know it was always her way toworrit about things, and you can't expect her to be otherwise, and I dothink your coming here will do her a lot of good."
Two mornings later one of the coast-guard came in. "Captain Downes willbe glad, sir, if you will go on board; there is something particularthat he wants to speak to you about."
Frank at once put on his hat.
"We had a sharp fight with the smugglers last night, your honour," thesailor said as they started. "We had been cruising about for two days tothe west, and yesterday morning we made out to sea and held east, and atten o'clock came into Swanage Bay. We came upon the lugger that hasfooled us so many times, and for once we caught her napping. They wereat work unloading a cargo when we came up, and she did not make us outuntil we were within a couple of cables'-length of her, then she slippedand ran; I expect she would have shown us her heels as usual, but wegave her a broadside, and that big spar of hers came down with a run,and we were alongside in no time. They made a tough fight of it, butpretty nigh half her crew were ashore with the kegs. Howsomever we werenot long in beating them below, though two or three of our chaps werepretty badly hurt, and three of theirs killed before the scrimmage wasover. We did not trouble about the chaps ashore. I expect they wereaccounted for all right, for we heard some pistol shots there, but wecame back here at once with the lugger, and got in two hours ago."
"Are the prisoners all French?" Frank asked eagerly.
"Ay, sir, just as French as can be. I was one of the party as took themashore and lodged them in jail; and there was no doubt about their allbeing French. They had all got rings in their ears; besides, you couldtell from the cut of their jib that they were Frenchies."
In ten minutes Frank stepped on to the deck of the _Boxer_. CaptainDownes met him there. "I congratulate you, Mr. Wyatt," he said warmly."I suppose you have been hearing that we had a sharp tussle with thesmugglers, and at last captured that confounded lugger that has given usso much trouble for the past two years. Though I am mightily pleased atthat, I am more pleased still that among those on board was that fellowMarkham. He fought like a tiger. I reckon he knew that his neck was in anoose, for he would, of course, have heard from his friends here thatthe matter of Faulkner's murder had been cleared up, and there was awarrant out against him. Well, he got a pistol shot in his chest, andafter it was all over we found that he was pretty near gone. As soon asa lantern was put to his face two or three of the men knew him at once,and I went up to him. He was pretty well past speaking, but as I stoopedover him he said, 'You have got me this time, Captain Downes, and nomistake. Well, it don't make much matter; I was getting sick of thelife. You look in the pocket of my jacket when I am gone, and you willfind a letter there. I swore to young Wyatt that I would clear him ofthat charge of shooting Faulkner. I shot him myself, and I have put itall down there.'
"He died a quarter of an hour later, and here is the letter. I am goingto take it over to Colonel Chambers, but I thought you would like to gowith me. Of course, your brother was really cleared of all suspicion,but it is just as well to have got it under the real man's own hand."
"I am delighted, Captain Downes. When I was told, as I came along, ofthe lugger being captured, I hoped that you might possibly havesomething like this to tell me, for I had heard, since I came here, thathe was still on board her, and as it was not likely he would risk goingashore, I thought perhaps you had got him prisoner. But this is betteraltogether, for if he had been put on trial for Faulkner's murder, hewould, no doubt, have accused Julian, and though I think the evidencewas strong enough to fix the guilt on the man, there might have beensome who would have believed what he said. Now it will be altogethercleared up. Though when Julian will be found and brought home is morethan anyone can say."
"Well, we need not trouble about that, lad, just at present. He iscleared, which is the principal thing, and sooner or later he is sure tofind his way back again."
Frank landed with Captain Downes. Taking a trap they drove to themagistrate's, where fortunately they found Mr. Henderson, who had goneup to arrange for the examination of the prisoners. Both were greatlypleased when, on the letter being opened, it was found to contain a fullconfession of the murder, attested by a French magistrate, andcorroborating in every respect the facts contained in Julian's letter,and as proved by the evidence given at the coroner's inquest. "I willgive this letter to the Weymouth paper to insert," Colonel Chamberssaid, "and will send copies to the London papers, with a few linesrecalling the facts of the murder and the proofs that had accumulated ofMarkham's share in it, and which show beyond all doubt the _bona-fides_of the confession."
"Thank you very much, Colonel," Frank said. "I only wish I knew where tosend a copy to Julian."
"I am sure I wish that you could do so," the colonel said. "Poor fellow!he has paid dearly indeed for his well-meant though rash attempt toseize Faulkner's murderer. I shall have finished my business in two orthree minutes, and shall be glad if you will stop to have a chat withme."
As soon as the magistrate had concluded his talk with Mr. Henderson, andthe latter had gone off to carry out the arrangements, Colonel Chambersturned to the captain and said, "Have you seen any of the London papers,Downes?"
"No, Colonel. I have had enough to think of this morning since we mooredup. Is there anything of importance in them?"
"Nothing perhaps extraordinarily important, but something certainlyinteresting at the present moment. Here is the _Morning Herald_. This isthe item: 'Our correspondent at Canterbury states that much excitementhas been lately caused in military circles there by an affair ofhonour--'" "Oh, that is too bad!" Frank broke in hotly--"'between anofficer of the Lancers, Captain M--l, and a cornet of the 15th LightDragoons, Mr. W--t. It is said that Captain M--l has been engaged inseveral similar encounters, and is famous for his skill with the pistol.The affair began, we understand, at a mess-dinner of the cavalry depot afew days since, at which several well-known gentlemen of the town werepresent. Captain M--l used insulting language to a recently-joinedyoung officer of the Dragoons. Mr. W--t took the matter up hotly, andrising, denounced Captain M--l in such strong language that a duelbecame inevitable. In view of the youth and supposed inexperience of Mr.W--t, the affair was regarded with extreme disapprobation by theofficers of Captain M--l's regiment, as well as by those of theDragoons. It seems, however, that Mr. W--t had for some time beenpractising with the pistol under the tuition of our respected townsman,Mr. Woodall the gunsmith, and before the parties met he confided to theofficer who acted as his second that he intended to aim at hisopponent's trigger-finger and so to incapacitate him from furtheradventures of the kind. Extraordinary as it may appear, this intentionwas carried out. Captain M--l not only lost his finger, but the bulletpassed up his arm and broke it above the elbow. We understand that thelimb has been successfully amputated by the surgeons of the two corps.This singular feat on the part of the young officer, when opposed to soskilled a duellist as Captain M--l, has created a profound sensationthroughout the garrison.'
"Well, Master W--t, what have you to say to that?"
"I don't know that I have anything to say to it, Colonel," Frankreplied, "except that it is a great nuisance that such a thing should betalked about. I suppose I have a good eye and a steady hand. I havepractised steadily every day since I joined, and have got to shootpretty straight. The man was a notorious bully, and if the young fellowhe had insulted had gone out with him, it would have been nothing shortof murder; and yet if he had not gone out with him I believe he wouldhave shot himself, ra
ther than suffer the disgrace of putting up with aninsult. So as I felt pretty certain that I could disable Marshallwithout having to do him any serious injury, I took it up and hit him inthe hand as I intended to."
"Well, Downes," Colonel Chambers said, "it seems to me that these twobrothers are born to get into adventures and to get well out of them.However, Frank, although you have acted very creditably, and mustcertainly be a wonderful shot with a pistol, don't do this sort of thingtoo often."
"I am not going to, sir. I hope that I shall never fight a duel again,and I didn't practise for that, but to be able to use my pistols onservice."
Three days later Frank said good-bye to his aunt and friends, andreturned to Canterbury, travelling this time by coach, as no crafthappened to be sailing for Dover.