occurred. It was a most treacherous weapon, without some famiHarity with which Ryer might well have sacrificed himself. The hair-trigger of this pistol had been made so sensitive that the mere motion to elevate the muzzle would discharge it in the hand of one not knowing the weapon. February 24, 1857, the fight having been twice before hindered, the parties confronted each other on Rough and Ready island, four miles from Stockton. The choice of position fell to Langdon's lot, and he stood with his back to the west. Ryer, opposite, received the rays of the settingsun full in his face. To the proposition whether an apology, if offered, would be acceptable, Ryer firmly said " No. No apology could atone for a blow." Neither was hurt by the first fire. Overtures for a reconciliation were again declined, and the second fire took place; no blood. At the third shot, Langdon fell, severely wounded below the ligament of the knee-cap. Colonel O'Neill, his second, then came forward and asked if the challenging party was satisfied. "Yes," said Ryer, "he has fallen." The wounded man escaped with his life, but was a cripple until he died in 1880. Dr Ryer had the largest practice in California; he had served as a regular surgeon in the United States army through the Mexican war. His friends claim, and not without reason, that there was absolutely no alternative for him but to fight, and that his living, his life, perhaps, depended upon his takina; advantag^e of the code itself.
Ferguson, state senator from Sacramento, told a story in which a young woman acquaintance of G. P. Johnson's figured, in a way which Jolmson did not like ; so he called Ferguson over to Angel Island, on the 21st of August, 1858, and killed him. So horrible was the offence of taking in vain the name of a young woman happening to know G P. Johnson, that death alone was sufficient atonement; hence the terms of the murderous compact were pistols, ten paces, and advance. The fourth shot brought the
