-twenty.

During this negociation, Abellino produced a pair of good flint-locked
Schneller pistols, and exhibited his skill before the company. He
ordered his lackey to throw linden leaves up into the air in front of
him, and riddled them with bullets three times running. This he did
simply to fill the adversary with terror. Michael, fathoming his object,
whispered confidentially in the young artisan's ear--

"We are not going to fire with those pistols, but with ours, which are
quite new, and it will not be so easy to show off with them."

Alexander smiled bitterly. "It is all one to me. My life is no more
precious to me than those linden leaves."

All the necessary formalities having been arranged, the seconds
attempted to reconcile the combatants. Abellino thereupon offered to
withdraw his challenge under two conditions: (1) If the challenged, in
the name of the firm he was defending, publicly declared that there was
no intention to insult in the advertisement complained of, and (2) if
Mr. Boltay caused to be inserted in the same newspaper in which the
offensive advertisement had appeared a notification to the effect that
Karpathy had given the amount in question to the girl's guardian from
purely artistic motives of the noblest description.

Alexander's seconds laid these conditions before him.

He immediately sent one of them back. Did they wish to insult him? He
meant in the plainest, most unmistakable manner, and with the fullest
knowledge of what he was doing, to take all the responsibility of the
alleged insult on his own shoulders, and he had nothing to retract.

Ah! he had far better reasons for fighting than the mere love of
swagger. There was nothing for it, therefore, but to fight.

Conrad thereupon turned towards the surgeon whom they had brought with
them, and roared in a stentorian voice--

"Have you your instruments with you? Then, mind you hold them in
readiness. There will not be much need of blood-letting, I fancy. What!
not brought your bone-saw with you, eh? My friend, your thoughtlessness
is disgraceful! It happens in duels sometimes that a man is not shot
through the head or the heart straight off; but the bullet may hit him
in the arm or leg, and then if the bone is injured and he has to wait
for an amputation till he is carried into town erysipelas may set in."

"Take your places, gentlemen! take your places!" shouted Rudolf, putting
an end to this cruel prolonging of the agony.

A