d to the nearest
church and implored the Virgin for help; and from that church she
went to another and another and another; church after church, and
still church after church, and so spent all the day until three
o'clock on her knees in agony and tears; then dragged herself home
and sat down comfortless and desolate, to count the minutes, and
wait, with an outward show of calm, for what had been ordained for
her--happiness, or endless misery. Presently she heard the clank of
a sabre--she had not known before what music was in that
sound!--and her son put his head in and said:

"X was in the wrong, and he apologized."

So that incident was closed; and for the rest of her life the
mother will always find something pleasant about the clank of a
sabre, no doubt.

In one of my listed duels--however, let it go, there is nothing
particularly striking about it except that the seconds interfered.
And prematurely, too, for neither man was dead. This was certainly
irregular. Neither of the men liked it. It was a duel with cavalry
sabres, between an editor and a lieutenant. The editor walked to
the hospital, the lieutenant was carried. In this country an editor
who can write well is valuable, but he is not likely to remain so
unless he can handle a sabre with charm.

The following very recent telegram shows that also in France duels
are humanely stopped as soon as they approach the (French)
danger-point:

"_Reuter's Telegram._--PARIS, _March 5_.--The duel between Colonels
Henry and Picquart took place this morning in the Riding School of
the Ecole Militaire, the doors of which were strictly guarded in
order to prevent intrusion. The combatants, who fought with swords,
were in position at ten o'clock.

"At the first reengagement Lieutenant-Colonel Henry was slightly
scratched in the fore arm, and just at the same moment his own
blade appeared to touch his adversary's neck. Senator Ranc, who was
Colonel Picquart's second, stopped the fight, but as it was found
that his principal had not been touched, the combat continued. A
very sharp encounter ensued, in which Colonel Henry was wounded in
the elbow, and the duel terminated."

After which, the stretcher and the band. In lurid contrast with
this delicate flirtation, we have this fatal duel