le M. Etienne turned out his toes and
in his elbows, as he bowed sharply at the waist with a severe and
haughty expression, without, however, taking his hat from his head.

"I must do the honours, I see," said Rollo, laughing, "since we have no
local trumpeter to do them for us. (Where in the world is that sullen
dog, our most faithful Galician?) This to the left is Monsieur de Saint
Pierre, count of that name. Then next Mr. John Mortimer of Chorley in
England, and as for me I am Rollo Blair of Blair Castle in the county of
Fife, at your service."

At this point the aforesaid M. de Saint Pierre stepped forward. He had
drawn out his card-case and selected a pasteboard with the care and
deliberation with which a connoisseur may choose a cigar.

"I have the honour to present Senor Don Rafael with my cartel of
defiance," he said simply.

The young man thus addressed stood a long moment dumb and fixed in the
middle of the floor, gazing at the engraved lines on the card, which he
had mechanically accepted, without comprehending their meaning.

"A cartel!" he stammered at last; "impossible. I can have no cause of
quarrel with this gentleman from France. I do not even know him!"

But Etienne had all the science of the affair of honour at his
finger-ends.

"I have nothing to say, sir," he replied, frigidly; "I refer you to my
second!"

And he turned to his nearest companion, who happened to be John
Mortimer. The Englishman, however, had but imperfectly understood.

"Well," he said in his best Spanish, "I am prepared to treat for any
quantity, provided the quality be to my satisfaction. But mind, the
terms are, 'delivered on the quay at Barcelona.' _No more Priorato pigs
in pokes for John Mortimer of Chorley._"

He relapsed into English with the last clause, and sticking his thumbs
into the pockets of his waistcoat, he waited Don Rafael's reply to his
ultimatum.

"Holy Virgin, are they all mad?" that young gentleman was crying in a
passion of despair when Rollo stepped forward and bowed courteously.

"The matter is briefly this, as I understand it," he said. "My friend,
M. Etienne de Saint Pierre, has been in terms of considerable amity with
a certain young lady--whose name I need not repeat in a public place. He
has been given to understand that you claim a similar high position in
her favour. If this be so, Senor, my principal wishes to end the
difficulty by a duel to the death, so that the young lady may not be p