. Ashby, here is the pistol."

Saying this, he handed the weapon to Ashby, who took it with a slight
bow, but in silence.

Harry now measured off twelve paces once more, and reached the spot
which he had before marked out, upon which he turned and, standing
erect, faced Ashby.

"Mr. Ashby," said he, "are you ready? If so, take aim, and I will
give the word."

Ashby raised the pistol and took aim. The weapon covered Harry, and
he knew it. He knew also that Ashby was a "dead shot." But not a
nerve quivered. He stood up there as straight as a ramrod, and
then, in a calm, clear voice, with his usual self-possession, said:

"One; two; three. _Fire_!"

[Illustration: "Whoroo, Lads! This Bates The Worruld, So It Does."]

For a moment Ashby stood with his pistol thus covering Harry.

Then his arm fell.

"I cannot," said he--"I cannot fire, in cold blood, on an unarmed
man."

Now, had Ashby stood thus, with a pistol, in the full heat of his
first fury, he would have tired, without stopping to think; but the
effect of their enforced courtesy to one another, and more
particularly of the somewhat tedious preliminaries, had been to calm
and even chill his hot anger, and to subdue all his fierce
excitement. As he stood there, with his pistol levelled, and saw
Harry's cool, calm face, it seemed like butchery. He could not fire.
And so his hand dropped down with this exclamation.

"But my turn is to come."

"Oh, that's nothing," said Ashby. "You may have your turn now, if you
choose."

"Oh no," said Harry, "I can't take my turn until after you have
fired; and the worst of it is, I don't see how we can settle this
difficulty, if we don't do it now."

"Other chances will, no doubt, occur," said Ashby.

"Pardon me," said Harry, "that is hardly probable, and, besides, that
will not help the matter. In fact, it will only make it worse. For
you see, if some time should elapse before such a meeting, the
recollection of this affair would be so faint that I could not go
into it with any spirit; whereas now I am all cocked and primed. So
fire away, my dear fellow, for I really don't want to have an affair
of this sort hanging over me the rest of my life. We must have it
out, and now's the time."

"Will you not fire first, Mr. Rivers?" said Ashby, earnestly.

"Oh no, that would make all our preparations childish," was the
reply. "We have appealed to Fortune, and her decision has been
given."

Ashby drew a long breath