The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Point Of Honor, by Joseph Conrad

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: The Point Of Honor
A Military Tale

Author: Joseph Conrad

Illustrator: Dan Sayre Groesbeck

Release Date: January 29, 2006 [EBook #17620]
[Date last updated: June 13, 2006]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE POINT OF HONOR ***

Produced by David Widger

THE POINT OF HONOR

BY

A MILITARY TALE

BY

JOSEPH CONRAD

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAN SAYRE GROESBECK

NEW YORK

THE MCCLURE COMPANY

MCMVIII

Copyright, 1908, by The McClure Company

Copyright, 1907, 1908, by Joseph Conrad

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"You will fight no more duels now" Frontispiece

"Bowing before a sylph-like form reclining on a couch"

"The angry clash of arms filled that prim garden"

"You take the nearest brute, Colonel D'Hubert"

I

Napoleon the First, whose career had the quality of a duel against the
whole of Europe, disliked duelling between the officers of his army. The
great military emperor was not a swashbuckler, and had little respect
for tradition.

Nevertheless, a story of duelling which became a legend in the army runs
through the epic of imperial wars. To the surprise and admiration of
their fellows, two officers, like insane artists trying to gild refined
gold or paint the lily, pursued their private contest through the
years of universal carnage. They were officers of cavalry, and their
connection with the high-spirited but fanciful animal which carries men
into battle seems particularly appropriate. It would be difficult to
imagine for heroes of this legend two officers of infantry of the line,
for example, whose fantasy is tamed by much walking exercise and whose
valour necessarily must be of a more plodding kind. As to artillery,
or engineers whose heads are kept cool on a diet of mathematics, it is
simply unthinkable.

The names of the two officers were Feraud and D'Hubert, and they were
both lieutenants in a regiment of hussars, but not in the same regiment.

Feraud was doing regimental work, but Lieutenant D'Hubert had the good
fortune to be attached to the person of the gene