ed, "Don't touch
it, Doctor! Don't lay a hand to the thing."

'"Come, come!" said Rene. "You are not so big fool as you pretend, Dr.
Break. No?"

'Dr. Break backed toward the gate, watching Jerry's pistol, and Rene
followed him with his trumpet, like a nurse trying to amuse a child, and
put the ridiculous thing to his ear to show how it was used, and talked
of _la Gloire_, and _la Humanite_, and _la Science_, while Dr. Break
watched Jerry's pistol and swore. I nearly laughed aloud.

'"Now listen! Now listen!" said Rene. "This will be moneys in your
pockets, my dear _confrere_. You will become rich."

'Then Dr. Break said something about adventurers who could not earn an
honest living in their own country creeping into decent houses and
taking advantage of gentlemen's confidence to enrich themselves by base
intrigues.

'Rene dropped his absurd trumpet and made one of his best bows. I knew
he was angry from the way he rolled his "r's."

'"Ver-r-ry good," said he. "For that I shall have much pleasure to kill
you now and here. Monsieur Gamm"--another bow to Jerry--"you will please
lend him your pistol, or he shall have mine. I give you my word I know
not which is best; and if he will choose a second from his friends over
there"--another bow to our drunken yokels at the gate--"we will
commence."

'"That's fair enough," said Jerry. "Tom Dunch, you owe it to the doctor
to be his second. Place your man."

'"No," said Tom. "No mixin' in gentry's quarrels for me." And he shook
his head and went out, and the others followed him.

'"Hold on," said Jerry. "You've forgot what you set out to do up at the
alehouse just now. You was goin' to search me for witchmarks; you was
goin' to duck me in the pond; you was goin' to drag all my bits o'
sticks out o' my little cottage here. What's the matter with you?
Wouldn't you like to be with your old woman to-night, Tom?"

'But they didn't even look back, much less come. They ran to the village
alehouse like hares.

'"No matter for these canaille," said Rene, buttoning up his coat so as
not to show any linen. All gentlemen do that before a duel, Dad
says--and he's been out five times. "You shall be his second, Monsieur
Gamm. Give him the pistol."

'Dr. Break took it as if it was red-hot, but he said that if Rene
resigned his pretensions in certain quarters he would pass over the
matter. Rene bowed deeper than ever.

'"As for that," he said, "if you were not the ignorant which y