however, had the effect of making Abellino stop short six paces from his
own barrier, and move away his thumb from the trigger of his pistol,
where he had hitherto held it.

What happened the next moment nobody was able to exactly explain.

A report rang out, and half a minute afterwards another. The seconds
hastened to the spot, and found Alexander standing erect in his place;
but Abellino had turned right round, and his hand was over his left ear.
The surgeons came running up with the others.

"Are you wounded?" they asked Abellino.

"No, no!" said he, keeping one hand continually over his ear. "Deuce
take that bullet, it flew so damned close to my ear that it has almost
made me deaf. I can't hear a word of what I am saying. Curse the bullet!
I would much rather that it had gone through my ribs."

"I wish it had with all my soul!" roared Conrad, who now came rushing
up. "You are a damned fool, for you shot me instead of your opponent!
Look, gentlemen! You see that tree by which I was standing? Well, the
bullet burrowed right into it. What! fire at your own seconds? Do you
call that discretion? If that tree had not been there, I should have
been as dead as a ducat--as dead as a ducat, I say!"

So this is what must have happened. At the very moment when Alexander's
bullet whizzed past Karpathy's ear he must have been so startled by the
shock as to have involuntarily wheeled round and clapped one hand to his
ear, and the same instant the loaded pistol in his other hand must have
gone off sideways. At any rate, Karpathy was found standing, after the
shot was fired, _with his back to his opponent_.

He himself heard none of Conrad's reproaches, and the blood slowly
began to trickle in little drops from his ear. He did not show it
otherwise, but from the paleness of his face it was plain that he was
suffering torments. The doctors whispered, too, that the membrane of the
ear was ruptured, and that all his life long he would be hard of
hearing.

Karpathy had to be conducted to his carriage. But for his sufferings he
would have sworn. He would much rather have had a bullet in his lungs.

Rudolf and Michael then approached the seconds of the opposite party,
and asked whether they considered the satisfaction given sufficient.

Livius admitted that everything was now perfectly in order, but Conrad
declared that he was so completely satisfied with this duel that he
would deserve to be called thief and robber if ever h