drops of a red fluid which may have been identical with

shooting was shrouded in mystery by a hundred conflicting stories,

the principal and most credited of which was that Davis had demanded

from Nelson an apology for language used in the original altercation,

and that Nelson's refusal was accompanied by a slap in the face, at

the same moment denouncing Davis as a coward. However this may be,

Nelson, after slapping Davis, moved toward the corridor, from which a

stairway led to the second floor, and just as he was about to ascend,

Davis fired with a pistol that he had obtained from some one near by