We met! 'Twas a mild and peaceful evening when we approached the field, and the setting sun was rejoicing like a bridegroom in the blushing embrace of the trembling horizon. Its quivering rays were reflected in shadowy lines, through the foliage of the forest, while the scarlet fruit of two old holly trees--the mute records of many a duel--lent the only cheering aspect to the frightful solitude of the scene. Our seconds having retired a short distance, for the purpose of arranging the usual ceremonies, we were left standing near each other. I was proud and inflexible, yet I felt my heart throbbing with anguish, and long-prized friendship, and when I looked on his serene and {96} dignified countenance, the jeweled days of our childhood flashed before me--when I was untainted by revenge--and uncursed by hatred,--when I was lifted above the darkness of human passion--when hope illuminated the airy future, and pleasure grasped the unalloyed fruition of reality. I thought not of my own death--of that dreamless and sodden sleep, from whose ghastly phantasm wisdom sinks into horror--of that dark insensibility to warm and mantling life--to light, hope, and love--a shadowless, impenetrable and boundless desart. Could I destroy the life of him, who with tireless truth had ever joyed in my joys--and sorrowed in my sorrows? Could I crush and scatter into nothingness, the full harvest which his ambition had garnered--the gems of mind--the sparkling thoughts of genius--the rich treasures of learning--and bankrupt the accumulated spoils of wisdom? Could I seize from the fœtid riot of the grave the animated countenance, the brave, generous and affectionate heart, or call back from the eternal prison of death, the gifted mind, and the eloquent brow? I reasoned with a memory which could not be recreant, and of the result of that duel my heart is guiltless? Our seconds, having finished their conversation, now approached, and placed the pistols in our hands, Arthur holding his in a perpendicular position, and mine according to the latest improvement, and the repeated suggestions of my second, being directed to the earth. "I cannot consent to fire?" said I, "while Mr. Ludwell stands directly in the line of that tree, it gives me a great advantage!"