1 !{:}!.] Ml/ FirsI Duel. oOO 



of a man, in the solitary loneliness of a foreign land, without a friend 

 to stand by him in an honourable quarrel." 



The hearty pressure of my outstretched hand must have told him 

 better than words could do, how deeply sensible I was of the service he- 

 was about to render me. We separated. The sun had scarcely gilded 

 the balconies of the east when I arose, hurried on my clothes, and having 

 given a few directions to my servant, hastened towards the spot where, 

 on the preceding evening, I had parted from my new friend. It was a 

 beautiful morning, the sun had risen in all the splendour of a tropical 

 clime, and as I moved on through the silent streets, methought the 

 fair face of nature had never looked so beautiful — not a sound was 

 heard, save the solemn peal of the matin bell, or the rustling of the silk 

 mantilla of some fair beata, as she glided past me to pour forth her 

 morning orisons at the shrine of her patron saint. I at length reached 

 the palace square, and observed my American friend slowly pacing the 

 esplanade of the church St. ]\Iaria. He was tall and bon}^ ; his blue 

 frock and ample white trowsers hung about him with republican neg- 

 ligence of manner ; he w^ore his shirt collar open ; and his long matted 

 dark hair was shadowed by a broad-brimmed hat of Chilian straw, w hit© 

 in comparison to the sallow hue of his complexion ; his countenance I 

 can never forget : it wore not the open frankness and gallant bearing 

 of the soldier, but there Avas an expression of enthusiasm of a cool, 

 determined cast, a stern intrepidity ; and, as he stretched out his hand 

 to welcome me, and fixed his large black eye on me with a concentrated 

 gaze that seemed to read my thoughts, it struck me that I beheld the 

 very beau ideal of a duellist. 



We moved on, each of us wrapped up in his own meditations, when, 

 on clearing the city, he at length broke the silence that had prevailed, 

 by asking me if I had ever been out before ? On my answering the 

 question in a negative. " I supposed as much," he continued. " At 

 your age one has seldom drawn a trigger, but on a hare or partridge ; 

 remember, therefore, to follow implicitly the instructions I shall give 

 you in placing you on the ground ; and take this segar," he added, 

 handing me one from his case : " it is a powerful stimulant, and 

 (juickens the circulation of the blood." 



We had by tliis time reached the field of action, and discovered my 

 adversary, his second, and a medical attendant, smoking their segars 

 beneath the shade of a cluster of cocoa-nut trees, that stood in loneli- 

 ness in the middle of the valley. They arose on our approach, saluted me 

 sternly, and interchanged friendly greetings with my companion. " You 

 will, of course," observed my adversary's friend, " have no objection to 

 sixteen paces." — " As the challenged party, we have the right of choos- 

 ing our own distance," rejoined my second ; " say, therefore, twelve 

 paces instead of sixteen, (aid the ,/iriiig down." — " Twelve paces," I 

 repeated to myself ; " can he be playing me false?" But I did him 

 injustice, for to this arrangement I owe to all human certainty my 

 life. 



The ground was measured. My second placed me with my back to 

 the sun — a disposition that brought his rays right on my opponent's 

 line of sight. The seconds rctiri'd to load. Tlie ramming down of 

 the balls grated with portentous cHect upon my ear. All being ready, 

 my second, taking a handkerchief from his pocket, bound <me end of it 

 tiglitly round my right hand, and measuring tlie length of my arm. 



