The fickle maiden meanwhile married the successful rival, and two years after died, it was said, of a broken heart.
The news came to Dick Ivey that his sister was to marry, and when he heard whom it was that was to be her husband, he obtained a furlough and started for his home to warn her against the man who had broken the heart of his old lady-love.
But, wounded on the way, in a fight with Indians, he was laid up for weeks, and arrived too late, for his sister had married the man whom he now hated with all his soul.
Soon after the Mexican war broke out, and as the American army crossed the Rio Grande, Dick Ivey met his old rival, and learned of his sister's death.
Soon after a letter came to him, written by his sister, and given to some faithful servant to mail.
It told of her sorrows, her sufferings, the cruelties of the man she had loved, and that she too was dying of a broken heart.
At once did Dick Ivey seek the man who had wrecked the lives of two whom he had so dearly loved, and what he said was terse, to the point, and in deadly earnest. It was:
"You know my cause of quarrel with you, sir, and that now is no time to settle it, for we belong to our country.
"But, the day this war ends, if you and I are alive, you shall meet me on the field of honour, and but one of us shall ever leave it alive."
And all through the war did Dick Ivey win fame, and he became a hero in the eyes of his gallant comrades.