sleep, and perhaps when
he awakes he will be more himself."

But poor Punch's sleep only lasted about half an hour, and then he woke
up with his eyes glittering and with a strangely eager look in his
countenance, as he stretched out the one hand that he could use.

"Yes," he said, "that's it. I know what you will have to do. Go to
that uncle of yours--"

"Punch, lad," cried Pen, laying his hand softly upon the one that had
closed upon his wrist, "don't talk now."

"I won't much, only it stops my head from going round. I just want to
say--"

"Yes, I know; but I have been watching a deal while you slept."

"What for?" cried the boy.

"To make sure that the enemy did not surprise us."

"Ah, you are a good chap," said the boy, pressing his wrist.

"And I am very tired, and when you talk my head begins to go round too."

"Does it? Well, then, I won't say much; only I have got this into my
head, and something seems to make me tell you."

"Leave it till to-morrow morning, then."

"No; it must come now, for fear I should forget it. What you have to do
is to go to your uncle like an officer and a gentleman--"

"Punch, Punch!"

"All right; I have just done. Pistols like an officer--same as they
uses when they fights duels. Then you walks straight up to him, with
your head in the air, and you says to him, `You don't desarve it, sir,
but I won't take any dirty advantage of you; so there's the pistols,'
you says. `Which will you choose? For we are going to settle this
little affair.' Then I'll tell you how it is. Old Pat Reilly--who was
a corporal once, before he was put back into the ranks--I heerd him
telling our chaps over their pipes how he went with the doctor of the
regiment he was in to carry his tools to mend the one of them who was
hurt. He called it--he was an Irishman, you know--a jool; and he said
when you fight a jool, and marches so many paces, and somebody--not the
doctor, but what they calls the second--only I think Pat made a mistake,
because there can't be two seconds; one of them must be a first or a
third--"

"There, Punch, tell me the rest to-morrow."

"No," said the boy obstinately; but his voice was growing weaker. "I
have just done, and I shall be better then, for what I wanted to say
will have left off worrying me. Let's see what it was. Oh, I know.
You stands opposite to your uncle, turns sideways, raises your pistol,
takes a good aim at him, and shoots him dead. Now then