"I advise you, sir, not to proceed too
far upon the immunities of your age and insignificance."

"I never presume farther than I have good reason to think necessary,
Captain Jekyl," answered Touchwood, with great composure. "I am too old,
as you say, for any such idiotical business as a duel, which no nation I
know of practises but our silly fools of Europe--and then, as for your
switch, which you are grasping with so much dignity, that is totally out
of the question. Look you, young gentleman; four-fifths of my life have
been spent among men who do not set a man's life at the value of a
button on his collar--every person learns, in such cases, to protect
himself as he can; and whoever strikes me must stand to the
consequences. I have always a brace of bull-dogs about me, which put age
and youth on a level. So suppose me horsewhipped, and pray, at the same
time, suppose yourself shot through the body. The same exertion of
imagination will serve for both purposes."

So saying, he exhibited a very handsome, highly finished, and
richly-mounted pair of pistols.

"Catch me without my tools," said he, significantly buttoning his coat
over the arms, which were concealed in a side-pocket, ingeniously
contrived for that purpose. "I see you do not know what to make of me,"
he continued, in a familiar and confidential tone; "but, to tell you the
truth, everybody that has meddled in this St. Ronan's business is a
little off the hooks--something of a _tete exaltee_, in plain words, a
little crazy, or so; and I do not affect to be much wiser than other
people."

"Sir," said Jekyl, "your manners and discourse are so unprecedented,
that I must ask your meaning plainly and decidedly--Do you mean to
insult me or no?"

"No insult at all, young gentleman--all fair meaning, and above board--I
only wished to let you know what the world may say, that is all."

"Sir," said Jekyl, hastily, "the world may tell what lies it pleases;
but I was not present at the rencontre between Etherington and Mr.
Tyrrel--I was some hundred miles off."

"There now," said Touchwood, "there _was_ a rencontre between them--the
very thing I wanted to know."

"Sir," said Jekyl, aware too late that, in his haste to vindicate
himself, he had committed his friend, "I desire you will found nothing
on an expression hastily used to vindicate myself from a false
aspersion--I only meant to say, if there was an affair such as you talk
of, I knew nothing of it."