cation.

"Yes; that was a d-d-dodge of mine to get out here," said he, chuckling.

"Well, Master Purvis," said Norwood, drawing his arm within his own, "if
you can't be the 'doctor,' you shall at least be the 'second.' This is a
dodge of mine; so come along, and no more about it."

"But I ca-can't; I never was--I never could be a se-se-second."

"You shall begin to-day, then, or my name's not Norwood. You've been the
cause of a whole series of mishaps and misfortunes; and, by Jove! if the
penalty were a heavier one, you should pay it."

"I tell you, I n-never saw a duel; I--I never f-fought one; I never will
fight one; I don't even know how they g-go about it."

"You shall learn, sir, that 's all," said Norwood, as he hastened along,
dragging the miserable Purvis at his side.

"But for you, sir," continued he, in a voice thick with passion,--"but
for you, sir, and your inveterate taste for prying into what does not
concern you, we should have experienced no delay nor disappointment this
morning. The consequences are, that I shall have to stand where another
ought to have stood, and take to myself a quarrel in which I have had no
share."

[Illustration: 022]

"H-how is that? Do----do----do tell me all about it!" cried Purvis,
eagerly.

"I 'll tell you nothing, sir, not a syllable. Your personal adventures
on this morning must be the subject of your revelations when you get
back to Florence, if ever you do get back."

"Why, I--I'm----I'm not going to fight anybody," exclaimed he, in
terror.

"No, sir, but _I_ am; and in the event of any disastrous incident,
_your_ position may be unpleasant. If Trouville falls, you 'll have to
make for Lombardy, and cross over into Switzerland; if he shoots me,
you can take my passport; it is _vise_ for the Tyrol. As they know me
at Innsprueck, you 'd better keep to the southward,--some of the smaller
places about Botzen, or Brixen."

"But I don't know Bo-Bo-Botzen on the map! and I don't see why I 'm to
sk-sk-skulk about the Continent like a refu-refu-refugee Pole!"

"Take your own time, then; and, perhaps, ten years in a fortress may
make you wiser. It's no affair of mine, you know; and I merely gave you
the advice, as I 'm a little more up to these things than you are."

"But, supposing that I 'll have no-nothing to do with the matter, that I
'll not be present, that I refuse to see--"

"You shall and you must, sir; and if I hear another word of objection
out of you