e evening. The fellow was a burr, sticking to the outer
skirts of respectable society, and when he was engaged to act as
interpreter on such an occasion, he felt himself to be a great man. He
was over weighted with his importance. At the banquet he sat at Boyton's
right hand and at every toast proposed, he would rise and bow in the
most gracious manner. This rather embarrassed Paul, who understood about
all that was being said and could speak enough Italian to make
himself understood. He mentioned the fact to one or two of his
entertainers, at the same time expressing a desire to be rid of the
interpreter. The fellow was having too much pleasure to be easily
disposed of, and it was not until some very vigorous words were passed,
that he concluded to abandon the scene. In the meantime he had been
honoring every toast with copious draughts of wine, and was very much
intoxicated when he left the hall. He wandered about the streets and
the more he thought of his dismissal, the deeper became his wrath and he
concluded that he had been insulted. A few more measures of wine,
partaken of at the cafe, determined him to wipe the insult out in blood.
Having made up his mind to write Boyton a challenge, he entered a
hotel with an air of great importance, and called to a waiter in a voice
that could be heard all over the place:

"Waiter; a pen, ink and paper. I wish to write to Captain Paul Boyton."
The materials were given him and the following is a verbatim copy of
the challenge sent by the accomplished English scholar to Paul:

[Image of obviously illegible gibberish]

Next morning Boyton returned to Florence and that evening while
entertaining some friends in his room, one of the guests looked out
at the window and remarked how much higher the river was than it had
been when he started for Pisa. Some of the guests advanced the opinion
that it would be impossible for him to go into the river while it was
in such a flood. Paul, overhearing them, said: "Ladies and gentlemen, if
you will step out on the porch and wait a few moments, I will enter the
river and paddle through the city in order to show you that I am equally
as safe in such water as I would be were it as smooth as glass."

While he was preparing for this short trip, the news spread over the
city like wildfire and by the time he was ready, people lined
either shore. When he proposed the trip, he had forgotten about the dam
before al