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?"

The doctor who had been restrained by others now took a sponge and
water and cleaned the face of Le Noir, which was found to be well
peppered with split peas!

Cap looked around,