Part 3 (1/2)

Though to all appearance defeated and hun, one he had long planned and cherished to bring about,--a duel with Kearney, in which his antagonist should be challenger This would give him the choice of weapons, which, as he well kneould ensure to him both safety and success Without the certainty of this, Carlos Santander would have been the last man to provoke such an encounter; for, with all his air of _bravache_, he was the veriest of cowards

CHAPTER SIX

”TO THE SALUTE!”

The thick ”swae, drawn by two horses, rolled out through one of its suburbs, and on along the Shell Road, and in the direction of Lake Pontchartrain

It was a close carriage--a hackney--with two men upon the driver's seat, and three inside Of these last, one was Captain Florence Kearney, and another Lieutenant Francis Crittenden, both officers of the filibustering band, with _titles_ not two days old Now on the way neither to Texas nor Mexico, but to the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, whereofscarce a soul, Kearney had bethought hi felloho had been elected first-lieutenant, and asked hi one of those who could not only stand fire, but _eat_ it, if the occasion called, eagerly responded to the appeal; and they were now _en route_ along the Shell Road to ht have with hied to that profession, one of whose members usuallyeon, had attached hiany box balanced upon his thigh there was another lying on the spare bit of cushi+on beside him, opposite to where Crittenden sat It was of a somewhat different shape; and no one who had ever seen a case of duelling pistols could ht else--for it was such

As it had been arranged that swords were to be the weapons, and a pair of these were seen in a corner of the carriage, what could they be wanting with pistols?

It was Kearney who put this question; now for the first ti what seemed to him a superfluous ared, as raved on the indented silver plate

”Well,” answered the Kentuckian, ”I'reat swordsht be as well to bring a pair along I didn't ot intoto say to _him_ on my own account So, if it come to that, I shall take to the barkers”

Kearney s satisfied that in case of any treachery, he had the right sort of ht have felt further secure, in a still other supporting party, who rode on the box beside the driver This was arifle, that stood with the barrel two feet above his shoulders, and the butt rested between his heavily booted feet

It was Cris Rock, who had insisted on coht was all ”fair and square” He too had conceived an unfavourable opinion of both the men to be met, from what he had seen of them at the _rendezvous_; for Santander's second had also been there

With the usual caution of one accusto Indians, he alent ar a spot of open ground alongside the road, and near the shore of the lake, the carriage stopped It was the place of the appointedday

Though their antagonists had not yet arrived, Kearney and Crittenden got out, leaving the young surgeon busied with his cutlery and bandage apparatus

”I hope you won't have to use the out of the carriage ”I don't want you to practise upon me till we've made conquest of Mexico”

”And not then, I trust,” soberly responded the surgeon

Crittenden followed, carrying the swords; and the two, leaping across the drain which separated the road froround, took stand under a tree

Rock remained firm on the coach-box, still seated and silent As the field was full under his view, and within range of his rifle, he knew that, like the doctor, he would be near enough if wanted

Ten minutes passed--most of the time in solemn silence, on the part of the principal, with soeous a man may be--however skilled in weapons, or accustomed to the deadly use of the a certain tre of conscience He has coht of either should be sufficient to disturb ifted with natural courage had needs have a good cause, and confidence in the weapon to be used Florence Kearney possessed all three; and though it was his first appearance in a duel, he had no fear for the result Even the still, so down from the dark cypress trees, like the drapery of a hearse, failed to inspire hiht nervousness caht of the insult he had received--and, perhaps also, a little by the remembrance of those dark eyes he fancied would flash proudly if he triumphed, and weep bitterly were he to suffer discos now froht hours before, when he was on his way to the house of Don Ignacio Valverde That night, before leaving it, he was good as sure he possessed the heart of Don Ignacio's daughter

Indeed, she had all but told hih to nerve him for the encounter near at hand?

Very near now--close to co festoonery of the trees, proclai the Shell Road It could only be that containing the antagonists And it was that In less than ten minutes after, it drew up on the causeway, about twenty paces to the rear of the one already arrived Twoas large as giants through the thick nised as Carlos Santander and his second There was a third individual, who, like the young surgeon, re the duelling party sy pulled off their cloaks and tossed thee, turned towards the wet ditch, and also leaped over it

The first perfor down upon the further bank with a ponderous thud He was a large, heavily builtthe activity necessary for a good swordsured well from his apparent clumsiness, but for what he had heard of hierer, with soerous adversary by twice killing his man His second--a French-Creole, called Duperon--enjoyed a sied in affairs that resulted fatally At this period New Orleans was emphatically the city of the _duello_--for this speciality, perhaps the most noted in the world

As already said, Florence Kearney knew the sort ofhis own first appearance in a duelling field, hesoht, however, as not to betray itself, either in his looks or gestures Confiding in his skill, gained by many a set-to with buttoned foils, and supported, as he was, by the gallant young Kentuckian, he knew nothing that could be called fear Instead, as his antagonist advanced towards the spot where he was standing, and he looked at the handso to Luisa Valverde, and the insult upon him in her presence--his nerves, not at all unsteady, now became firm as steel Indeed, the self-confident, alround, so far fro them--the effect, no doubt, intended--but braced them the more