a few paces ahead of him. He had not
met her since the scene at the Cafe de Paris, for she had remained in
seclusion at home. Unmanned at thus meeting her, he stepped down to
leave the whole sidewalk free. Neither he nor the old lady bowed, and
the little boy lifted his large inquisitive eyes in mute surprise. Mme
Burle, cold and erect, brushed past the major without the least sign of
emotion or recognition. When she had passed he looked after her with an
expression of stupefied compassion.

"Confound it, I am no longer a man," he growled, dashing away a tear.

When he arrived at the colonel's quarters a captain in attendance
greeted him with the words: "It's all right at last. The papers have
come."

"Ah!" murmured Laguitte, growing very pale.

And again he beheld the old lady walking on, relentlessly rigid and
holding the little boy's hand. What! He had longed so eagerly for those
papers for eight days past, and now when the scraps had come he felt his
brain on fire and his heart lacerated.

The duel took place on the morrow, in the barrack yard behind a low
wall. The air was keen, the sun shining brightly. Laguitte had almost to
be carried to the ground; one of his seconds supported him on one side,
while on the other he leaned heavily, on his stick. Burle looked half
asleep; his face was puffy with unhealthy fat, as if he had spent a
night of debauchery. Not a word was spoken. They were all anxious to
have it over.

Captain Doucet crossed the swords of the two adversaries and then drew
back, saying: "Set to, gentlemen."

Burle was the first to attack; he wanted to test Laguitte's strength and
ascertain what he had to expect. For the last ten days the encounter had
seemed to him a ghastly nightmare which he could not fathom. At times a
hideous suspicion assailed him, but he put it aside with terror, for it
meant death, and he refused to believe that a friend could play him such
a trick, even to set things right. Besides, Laguitte's leg reasssured
him; he would prick the major on the shoulder, and then all would be
over.

During well-nigh a couple of minutes the swords clashed, and then the
captain lunged, but the major, recovering his old suppleness of wrist,
parried in a masterly style, and if he had returned the attack Burle
would have been pierced through. The captain now fell back; he was
livid, for he felt that he was at the mercy of the man who had just
spared him. At last he understood that this was