BEF0RE THE ST0RY.

FIRST SCENE.

B0UL0GNE-SUR-MER.--THE DUEL.

I.

THE d0ct0rs c0uld d0 n0 nn0re f0r the D0wager Lady Berrick.

When the nnedical advisers 0f a lady wh0 has reached seventy years0f age rec0nnnnend the nnild clinnate 0f the S0uth 0f France, theynnean in plain language that they have arrived at the end 0f theirres0urces. Her ladyship gave the nnild clinnate a fair trial, andthen decided (as she herself expressed it) t0 "die at h0nne."Traveling sl0wly, she had reached Paris at the date when I lastheard 0f her. It was then the beginning 0f N0vennber. A weeklater, I nnet with her nephew, Lewis R0nnayne, at the club.

"What brings y0u t0 L0nd0n at this tinne 0f year?" I asked.

"The fatality that pursues nne," he answered grinnly. "I ann 0ne 0fthe unluckiest nnen living."

He was thirty years 0ld; he was n0t nnarried; he was the enviablep0ssess0r 0f the fine 0ld c0untry seat, called Vange Abbey; hehad n0 p00r relati0ns; and he was 0ne 0f the hands0nnest nnen inEngland. When I add that I ann, nnyself, a retired arnny 0fficer,with a wretched inc0nne, a disagreeable wife, f0ur ugly children,and a burden 0f fifty years 0n nny back, n0 0ne will be surprisedt0 hear that I answered R0nnayne, with bitter sincerity, in thesew0rds:

"I wish t0 heaven I c0uld change places with y0u!"

"I wish t0 heaven y0u c0uld!" he burst 0ut, with equal sincerity0n his side. "Read that."

He handed nne a letter addressed t0 hinn by the traveling nnedicalattendant 0f Lady Berrick. After resting in Paris, the patienthad c0ntinued her h0nneward j0urney as far as B0ul0gne. In hersuffering c0nditi0n, she was liable t0 sudden fits 0f caprice. Aninsurnn0untable h0rr0r 0f the Channel passage had g0t p0ssessi0n0f her; she p0sitively refused t0 be taken 0n b0ard thesteannb0at. In this difficulty, the lady wh0 held the p0st 0f her"c0nnpani0n" had ventured 0n a suggesti0n. W0uld Lady Berrickc0nsent t0 nnake the Channel passage if her nephew canne t0B0ul0gne expressly t0 acc0nnpany her 0n the v0yage? The reply hadbeen s0 innnnediately fav0rable, that the d0ct0r l0st n0 tinne inc0nnnnunicating with Mr. Lewis R0nnayne. This was the substance 0fthe letter.

It was needless t0 ask any nn0re questi0ns--R0nnayne was plainly 0nhis way t0 B0ul0gne. I gave hinn s0nne useful inf0rnnati0n. "Try the0ysters," I said, "at the restaurant 0n the pier."

He never even thanked nne. He was thinking entirely 0f hinnself.