too much to carry any excess of pride about with
them."

"Would you undertake the office, then?" asked I.

"With pleasure, sir;" and, as he spoke, he crossed the room, and,
standing over the old man's chair, whispered in his ear. I soon
perceived, by the manner of each, that the negotiation was not as simple
as he had fancied it. Remark, reply, and rejoinder seemed to follow
each other quickly; and I could almost detect something like an insolent
rejection of the landlord's suit in the old man's manner. Indeed, I had
not long to remain in doubt on the subject; for, rising from his seat,
the Count addressed some hurried words to those about him, to which they
replied by expressions of anger and astonishment. In vain the landlord
interposed, and tried to calm down their impatience; they grew more
and more excited, and I could detect expressions of insulting meaning
through what they uttered.

"What is the matter?" asked I of the landlord; but ere he could reply, a
tall, dark man, with the marked physiognomy of a Pole, came up to me and
said,--

"The Graf von Bildstein has received a grave provocation at your hands:
are you prepared to justify it?"

"I must first of all learn how I may have offended him," said I, calmly.

"We all of us heard it," said he, impatiently; "you insulted every man
in this room through him. Either, then, you leave it at once [and he
pointed insolently to the door], or you give him satisfaction."

The only reply I made to this speech was a haughty laugh, as I filled my
glass with champagne. I had but done so when, with a blow of his cane,
he swept my bottle and the glasses from the table; and then, stepping
back and drawing a sword from the stick, threw himself into an attitude
of defence. I drew my sword and rushed in on him. Either that he was
not a skilful fencer, or unprepared for the suddenness of my attack, he
defended himself badly; his guards were all wide, and his eyes unsteady.
I felt my advantage in a moment, and, after a couple of passes, ran
my point through his side, just close to the ribs. A loud cry from the
bystanders, as the blood gushed forth, now stopped the encounter, and
they speedily dashed forward to catch him as he reeled and fell.

"Away with you, for Heaven's sake, or you are a murdered man," cried the
landlord to me, while he pushed me violently from the room and out into
the street, barring and bolting the door within, at the same instant.
The terrible clamor