ith great
effect by an accomplished all-round swordsman.

There is one point on which a few words may not be out of place in this
connection.

Good men, with their fists, and those who are proficient with the sword
or stick, often complain that, in actual conflict with the rough and
ready, though ignorant, assailant, they are worsted because the
adversary does something diametrically opposed to what a scientific
exponent of either art would do in similar circumstances.

It is certainly trying, when you square up to a rough and expect him to
hit out with his fists, to receive a violent doubling-up kick in the
stomach; and similarly annoying is it, when attacked by a man with a
stick, to experience treatment quite different to anything you ever came
across in your own particular School-of-Arms.

But after all this is only what you ought to expect. It is absolutely
necessary to suit yourself to your environment for the time being, and
be ready for _anything_.

Depend upon it science must tell, and there is always this very
consoling reflection to fall back upon: if your opponent misses you, or
you are quick enough to avoid his clumsy attack--either of which is
extremely likely to happen--it is highly probable that you will be able
to make good your own attack, for, as a rule, the unscientific man hits
out of distance or wide of the mark, and this is rarely the case with a
scientific man.

It once fell to my lot to be set upon by a couple of very disagreeable
roughs in Dublin, one of whom did manage to get the first blow, but it
was "all round" and did not do much harm. Before he could deliver a
second hit I managed to lay him out with a very severe cut from my
blackthorn, which came in contact with his head just between the rim of
his hat and the collar of his coat. Now, had my knowledge of stick-play
been insufficient to enable me to accurately direct this cut (cut 5) to
its destination, I might not now be scribbling these pages. As it turned
out, this poor injured rough was placed _hors de combat_, and was
afterwards conveyed to the hospital, and I only had to tackle his
friend, a stubborn varlet, who, after knocking me about a good deal and
also receiving some rough treatment at my hands, ran away. He was
"wanted" by the police for some time, but was never caught.

This little episode is only given to show that the proper delivery of
one blow or hit is often enough to turn the tables, and how advisable it
is to