hrough this
affair. If all I hear is true, Le Gaire came back to me with a lie, and
that is something I have never taken yet from any man."

He stood straight as an arrow, his shoulders squared, his slender form
buttoned tightly in the gray uniform coat. The sun was upon his face,
clear-cut, proud, aristocratic, and his eyes were the same gray-blue as
his daughter's. Then he held out his hand and I clasped it gladly.

"I cannot express the gratitude I feel, Major Hardy," I faltered. "One
hardly expects such kindness from an enemy."

"Not an enemy, my boy--merely a foeman. I am a West Pointer, and some of
the dearest friends I have are upon the other side. But come, let us not
be the last on the field."

He tried to talk with me pleasantly as we crossed the garden, and
approached the stable, and I must have answered, yet my mind was
elsewhere. This was all new to me, and my mood was a sober one. My
father was an old-time Puritan to whom personal combat was abomination,
and even now I could feel his condemnation of my course. I regretted
myself the hot headedness which had led me on, but without the faintest
inclination to withdraw. Yet that earlier hatred of Le Gaire had left
me, and his blow no longer stung. No desire for revenge lingered, only a
wish to have the whole matter concluded quickly, and a hope that we both
might leave the field without serious injury. It was in this frame of
mind that I turned the corner of the stable, and saw the chosen duelling
ground. It was a smooth strip of turf running north and south, with the
stable to the left, and a grove of trees opposite. The building cast a
shadow over most of the space, and altogether it was an ideal spot, well
beyond view from the windows of the house. Hardy opened the leather
case, placing it upon the grass, and I saw the two derringers lying
against the plush lining, deadly looking weapons, with long steel-blue
barrels, and strangely carven stocks. Someway they fascinated me, and I
watched while he took them up and fondled them.

"Rather pretty playthings, Galesworth," he said admiringly. "Don't see
such often nowadays, but in my father's time they were a part of every
gentleman's belongings. He would as soon have travelled without his
coat. I've seen him practise; apparently he never took aim," he held the
weapon at arm's length. "Wonderfully accurate, and the long barrel is
better than any sight; just lower it this way; there's almost
no recoil."

T