258 ikin^s of tbe 1Rofc, IRifle, anfc Gun 



who had the reputation of being a dead shot, stuck his 

 glove on a tree, and in a swaggering tone asked Gronow 

 which finger he should hit ? Gronow did not condescend 

 to reply ; so the Frenchman, with a shrug of the shoulders, 

 said, " Ah ! we will say the little ringer, then," and with 

 that raised his pistol, fired, and shot away the little 

 finger of the glove ; then, turning to his antagonist, said, 

 " I will serve you in the same way." 



Captain Hesse, Gronow's second, who was not long 

 afterwards killed in a duel, said to his principal, " You 

 must do something to try and shake that fellow's nerve ; 

 so he threw his hat high in the air. Gronow put a bullet 

 through the centre of the crown, and then, bowing to the 

 Frenchman, said, " Monsieur, voild votre destined Two 

 minutes later the Frenchman lay dead with a bullet 

 through his brain. 



Captain Ross, unlike Gronow, not only never fought 

 a duel, but never saw one fought, though he was in 

 constant request as a second. " As far as it was in 

 my power to do so," he says, " I from the first set my 

 face against duelling, and during my longish life I never 

 sent or received a challenge, nor did I ever see a duel 

 fought. I have, however, acted for other people no less 

 than sixteen times, and I have in every case managed 

 to get the difference made up in a satisfactory manner. 

 In some cases it appeared at first almost hopeless ; but by 

 keeping cool, being patient, and appealing to the good 

 feeling and good sense of the opposite second, I have 

 at last always brought him to an amiable state of mind, 

 and then it was comparatively easy to settle matters 

 without resorting to the 'trial by battle.'" 



