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Updated: June 1, 2025
The protection Thalermacher received was of a peculiar kind. Under the plea of insuring him against public attack, he was conducted under escort, to the fortress of Rastadt, and there held a close prisoner, until the whole affair could be investigated. The funeral procession of Lieutenant Kugelblitz was not a thing to be missed.
Lieutenant Kugelblitz, to whose opinion deference was due, expressed himself in such offensive terms with respect to Herr von Thalermacher, in relation to the ball, that the gentlemen who had prepared the subscription-list at once erased the objectionable name: Herr von Thalermacher at once demanded satisfaction from his accuser, but this Lieutenant Kugelblitz refused, on the ground that the banker was not respectable enough for powder and shot.
Further: that the seals be removed from his apartments and papers, seeing that nothing among them had been found which could cast the faintest shadow upon his reputation. We had all been yelling at the wrong man. Kugelblitz was, after all, the author of the tragedy.
He clenched his fist, shook it in the face of Demboffsky, and demanded furiously that he should give his word of honour to fight him in the morning. The Russian, who expected bodily violence, then said that since the insult had been pushed so far, there remained no other course open to him, than to accept the challenge; which he accordingly did, pledging himself to meet Kugelblitz on the morrow.
The two officers stood forward in deadly opposition with a measured distance of ten paces only. Nevertheless, the first fire was without result; but, at the second fire, Kugelblitz was struck in the breast; yet he still held his weapon undischarged. He pressed his left hand on the wound as he pulled the trigger with his right. The pistol missed fire.
Thalermacher the rich Jew, soldiers, the entire court, Meinheer, all in despair; a regular sack. Not only Kugelblitz, but Demboffsky, the Russian officer, killed. O hep! hep! a lamentable tragedy. “For they were two such fine-looking young men,” mourned the chambermaid, “especially Demboffsky.” “You had better,” said the landlord, “stay in Carlsruhe till to-morrow.”
I heard talk of a procession and of certain names, particularly the names Kugelblitz and Thalermacher. Never having heard those names before, and caring therefore nothing in the world about them, I tumbled into bed. To my delight, when I got up in the morning, I found the little town turned upside down.
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