And let me hear your faithful steel 9. Bowl rang to bowl, steel clanged to steel, That made the torches flare around, 10. "But I defy him :-let him come!" While from its sheath the ready blade And with the black and heavy plumes There, in his dark, carved, oaken chair, Albert G. Greene. EXERCISES IN INFLECTION. 1. In his last strong agony, a dying warrior lay. 2. They tell me that I-ha! ha!-must die. 3. I'll brave his power; defy, and fear him not. 4. Are ye all there, my vassals true? Mine eyes are waxing dim. 5. Ye're there, but yet I see ye not. sword. Draw forth each trusty 6. Ho! cravens, do you fear him? Slaves, traitors! have ye flown? IN N the morning he accepted the challenge. Having the right to name the weapons, he named the small sword. When the colonel heard this, with a touch of feeling, which all his bitterness could not quite extinguish, he said: "Does the moth know he is fluttering into the flame?" When the ground was chosen, and the champions stood armed and ready, the ensign suddenly lowered his sword-point, and, addressing his antagonist, said: 2. "Sir, I am here under compulsion, merely. I do not consent to this practice. To me it is absurd as it is wicked. It settles no right, and it redresses no wrong. Let me say, then, that if my patience has given way under my persecutions, and if I have, by a hasty word or act, justly offended you, I am willing to retract it. What is your complaint?" 3. "Young man, I came here not to preach, but to fight. I came here, not to confer with you about nice points in casuistry, but to punish your impudence; but, if you have no relish for that, I will spare your life, on condition that you leave the army. Take your choice." The ensign's answer was prompt and firm: "You will have it so I am guiltless," and the fencing began. 4. The seconds and witnesses had never seen such a display of skill, and they never dreamed of such a result. In five minutes the colonel was disarmed, and at the mercy of the insulted and outraged boy! Heated by the struggle, and excited by the imminent peril and bloody bitterness and fury of his enemy, the ensign turned from him somewhat haughtily, with: "I have taught you a lesson in sword-play, and now I will set you another, which you need more-an example of moderation in success." 5. The colonel's mortification and rage seemed to know no bounds. "I accept no favors from such a canting, phrase-making sentimentalist-such a mere fencing-master-such a trickster and conjuring sword-player as you are," the colonel burst out through his grinding teeth. "You knew well what you were about when you chose those toys to play tricks with. If you have a sentiment of honor left in you, let me have pistols. I tell you this quarrel is not made up. I will not have my life at your gift. You shall take it, or I will take yours. The quarrel is to the death, and there is a blow to clench it," striking a blow at the ensign, which he avoided with equal coolness and dexterity. 6. The seconds interfered, and even the spectators cried shame; but it was clear enough that blood must flow before the parties should quit the field. The ensign's second, carried away by the excitement, urged him to accept the new challenge, or change of conditions, for he despaired of any other adjustment. 7. "Will nothing satisfy this madman but my life?" said the young officer, deeply agitated. “You have made him mad," said the second, "and there is nothing left for it but a fatal issue. You have the right to refuse, having already spared his life, and I will sustain you; but I do not advise it, for it will be unavailing in the end.” 8. "I have gone too far," replied the ensign, sadly, "too far from the line of strict principle to recover it now. I can not any longer say that I am opposed to fighting; I have broken down that defense by yielding to an expediency which I thought a safe one. Oh, it is horrible! I did not dream this morning that I might die a fool's death to-day." 9. "You will accept the offer," hastily interposed the second; "you must be a good shot, with such an eye and hand, and such self-possession as you have shown to-day. If your pistol matches your sword, you can not miss him; and upon my soul he deserves it, and I say let him have it. You accept." 10. The ensign stood silent. The ground was measured, the pistols prepared, and the combatants stationed. The word was given-one-two-three. The colonel's pistol was discharged at the instant, and the ensign stood untouched. He had reserved his fire, and had the right now to take deliberate aim. Steadily he raised the deadly weapon till it bore point blank upon the colonel's heart, and there it rested a moment in terrible suspense; not a nerve quivered, not a limb trembled in either, and the spectators held their breath hushed as the death they waited for. 11. But suddenly wheeling, the ensign marked a post in a different direction, at twice the distance of his antagonist, and, pulling the trigger, delivered the ball in it, breast-high. It was a center shot, and instantly fatal if a living man had stood there. The next instant, throwing down the pistol with decision that could not be mistaken, he cried out: "I will go no further in this wicked folly. If there is nothing left for me but murder or submission, I will submit." 12. The grandeur of his position was too striking now to be mistaken or denied. The colonel was the first to acknowledge it. Twice within the hour he owed his life to the magnanimity of a man he had so much abused. That man stood now vindicated, even by the hard laws of war and honor. He was neither a trickster nor a coward. Possibly the colonel felt something of the higher nobility of the young man's principles, but I will not be sure of that. He found him brave and generous, and that was enough, without looking deeper for the hidden springs of the nobler life within him. 13. Advancing to him, he offered his hand, apologized frankly for all his misconduct, acknowledged his misconception of the character which he had put to so severe a trial, and added that he was willing to owe his life to "the bravest man he had ever met, either as friend or foe.” 14. "Brave!" said the young man, with the color mounting to cheek and brow. "Brave! Colonelpardon me-Heaven pardon me! True bravery consists in refusing to fight altogether. But I have betrayed a principle which I should have valued more than life; I have risked my life-not for a principle, but to satisfy a caprice. I am the miserable hero of a miserable falsehood, instead of the martyr of a great truth. I have lost confidence in myself, and men's praises only mock me." Adapted from W. Elder. EXERCISES IN INFLECTION. 1. Does the moth know he is fluttering into the flame? 2. To me it is absurd, as it is wicked. 3. I came here not to preach, but to fight. 4. You shall take it, or I will take yours. 5. “I have gone too far,” replied the ensign, sadly. |