Cap came as she was commanded and stood there with some irrepressible

and incomprehensible mischief gleaming out from under her long

eye-lashes and from the corners of her dimpled lips.

The magistrate then administered the oath to Craven Le Noir, and bade

him look upon Capitola and give his evidence.

He did so, and under the terrors of a guilty conscience and of expected

death, his evidence partook more of the nature of a confession than an

accusation. He testified that he had addressed Capitola, and had been

rejected by her; then, under the influence of evil motives, he had

circulated insinuations against her honor, which were utterly

unjustifiable by fact; she, seeming to have heard of them, took the

strange course of challenging him--just as if she had been a man. He

could not, of course, meet a lady in a duel, but he had taken advantage

of the technical phraseology of the challenged party, as to time, place

and weapons, to offer her a deep insult; then she had waylaid him on

the highway, offered him his choice of a pair of revolvers, and told

him that, having met, they should not part until one or the other fell

from the horse; he had again laughingly refused the encounter except

upon the insulting terms he had before proposed. She had then thrown

him one of the pistols, bidding him defend himself. He had laughingly

passed her when she called him by name, he had turned and she

fired--six times in succession, and he fell. He knew no more until he

was brought to his present room. He said in conclusion he did not wish

that the girl should be prosecuted, as she had only avenged her own

honor; and that he hoped his death would be taken by her and her

friends as a sufficient expiation of his offenses against her; and,

lastly, he requested that he might be left alone with the minister.

"Bring that unhappy young woman over to my office, Ketchum," said the

magistrate, addressing himself to a constable. Then turning to the

landlord, he said: "Sir, it would be a charity in you to put a messenger on horseback and

send him to Hurricane Hall for Major Warfield, who will have to enter

into a recognizance for Miss Black's appearance at court.

"Stop," said Cap, "don't be too certain of that! 'Be always sure you're

right--then go ahead!' Is not any one here cool enough to reflect that

if I had fired six bullets at that man's forehead and every one had

struck, I should have blown his head to the sky? Will not somebody at

once wash his face and see how deep the wounds are?"




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