re you ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready enough. I'll show you whether I'm a coward or not.
Here, hold out your hand."

"What for?"

"To shake hands, of course, and show that we mean fair play."

"I never stopped for that when I had a fight with the Rockabie boys, but
there you are."

Hands were grasped, and the midshipman was about to withdraw his, but it
was held tightly, and somehow or another his own fingers began to
respond in a tight clench.

And thus they stood for quite a minute, while some subtle fluid like
common-sense in a gaseous form seemed to run up their arms through their
shoulders, and then divide, for part to feed their brains and the other
part to make their hearts beat more calmly.

At last Aleck spoke.

"I say," he said, "aren't we going to make fools of ourselves?"

"I don't know," was the reply, "but I'll show you I'm not a coward."

"I never thought you were a coward, but you'd say I was one if I told
you that I didn't want to fight."

"No, I shouldn't," said the middy, "because I can't help feeling that it
is stupid, and I don't want to fight either."

"Then, why should we fight?"

"Oh," said the middy, "there are times when a gentleman's bound to stand
upon his honour. We ought to fight now with pistols; but as we have
none why, of course, it has to be fists. Besides, I don't suppose you
could use a pistol, and it wouldn't be fair for me to shoot you."

"I daresay I know as much about pistols as you do," said Aleck. "I've
shot at a mark with my uncle. But we needn't argue about that."

"No, we've got our fists, so let's get it done."

But they did not begin, for the idea that they really were about to make
fools of themselves grew stronger, and as they dropped their hands to
raise them again as fists, neither liked to strike the first blow.

Suddenly an idea struck Aleck as he glanced sidewise to see their
shadows stretched out in a horribly grotesque, distorted form upon the
dark water, and he smiled to himself as he saw his fists elongated into
clubs, while he said, suddenly:

"I say, I don't want, you to think me a coward."

"Very well, then, you had better show you are not by fighting hard to
keep me from giving you an awful licking."

"You can't do it," said Aleck; "but _I_ say I don't want to fight."

"Perhaps not; but you'll soon find you'll have to, or I shall call you
the greatest coward I ever saw."

"But it seems so stupid when we are in such trouble to make th