ter time, careless
of guarding, and he was full as good a man as I. 'Time's up; it's
past the quarter.' 'No, by Jove half a minute yet; now's your
time, said my noble host to his man, who answered by a rush. I
met him as before with a steady counter, but this time my blow
got home under his chin, and he staggered, lost his footing, and
went fairly over on his back.

"Most of the bystanders seemed delighted, and some of them
hurried towards me. But I tore off the gloves, flung them on the
ground, and turned to my host. I could hardly speak, but I made
an effort, and said quietly, 'You have brought a stranger to your
rooms, and have tried to make him fight for your amusement; now I
tell you it is a blackguard act of yours--an act which no
gentleman would have done.' My noble host made no remark. I threw
on my waist-coat, and then turned to the rest and said
'_Gentlemen_ would not have stood by and seen it done.' I went up
to the side-board, uncorked a bottle of champagne, and half
filled a tumbler, before a word was spoken. Then one of the
visitors stepped forward and said, 'Mr. Hardy, I hope you won't
go, there has been a mistake; we did not know of this. I am sure
many of us are very sorry for what has occurred; stay and look
on, we will all of us spar.' I looked at him, and then at my
host, to see whether the latter joined in the apology. Not he, he
was doing the dignified sulky, and most of the rest seemed to me
to be with him. 'Will any of you spar with me?' I said,
tauntingly, tossing off the champagne. 'Certainly, the new
speaker said directly, 'If you wish it, and are not too tired, I
will spar with you myself; you will, won't you, James?' and he
turned to one of the other men. If any of them had backed him by
a word I should probably have stayed; several of them, I learnt
afterwards, would have liked to have done so, but it was an
awkward scene to interfere in. I stopped a moment and then said,
with a sneer, 'You're too small, and none of the other gentlemen
seem inclined to offer.'

"I saw that I had hurt him, and felt pleased at the moment I had
done so. I was now ready to start, and I could not think of
anything more unpleasant to say at the moment; so I went up to my
antagonist, who was standing with the gloves on still, not quite
knowing what to be at, and held out my hand. 'I can shake hands
with you at any rate,' I said; 'you only did what you were paid
for in the regular way of business, and you did