"Do you think it an agreeable subject of conversation?" inquired
Georgiana.

"Then I will change it," I said. "The other day the editor of the
Smithland _Bee_ was walking along the street with his little daughter
and was shot down by a doctor."

"Horrible!" exclaimed Georgiana. "Why?"

"Self-defence," I answered. "And last week in the court-room in Mount
Sterling a man was shot by his brother-in-law during the sitting of
court."

"And why did _he_ kill _him_?"

"Self-defence!" I answered. "And in Versailles a man down in the
street was assassinated with a rifle fired from the garret of a tavern.
Self-defence. And in Lexington a young man shot and killed another for
drawing his handkerchief from his pocket. Self-defence!--the sense of
the court being that whatever such an action might mean in other
civilized, countries, in Kentucky and under the circumstances--the
young fellows were quarrelling--it naturally betokened the reaching for
a revolver. Thus in Kentucky, Georgiana, and during a heated
discussion, a man cannot blow his nose but at the risk of his life."

"I'll see that you never carry a handkerchief," said Georgiana. "So
remember--don't you ever reach for one!"

"And the other day in Eddysville," I went on, "two men fought a duel by