n, and touched one on the shoulder.

"Signors!" he cried, "and you, Signor le Capitaine, pardon me if I ask
you for your hearing for an instant. This--gentleman here has insulted
me, and declines to give me satisfaction. I have called him a coward and
a rascal, and I repeat it! His name is Lord St Maurice. If he forfeits
his right to be considered a gentleman, I demand that his name be struck
off the visitors' club."

The three men had risen to their feet. Two of them were gentlemen of the
neighborhood with whom Lord St Maurice had a bowing acquaintance. The
third was a French officer. They looked inquiringly at Lord St. Maurice.

"It's quite true, gentlemen," he said with easy self-possession. "He's
been calling me all the bad names under the sun, and I have declined to
give him what he calls satisfaction. I haven't the least objection to
your knowing it."

The two Palermitans looked at one another doubtfully. The officer,
giving his moustache a twist, stepped forward and bowed.

"Might we inquire your reasons for declining the duel?" he asked.

The Englishman shrugged his shoulders.

"Certainly," he answered. "In the first place, I am an officer in the
service of Her Majesty the Queen, and duelling is strictly forbidden; in
the second, Signor di Marioni is too excited to know what he is talking
about."

"In England, Signor, your first objection is valid; here, it is scarcely
so. As to the latter, Monsieur le Count seems now to be perfectly
composed. I am on the committee of the club, and I fear that I must
erase your name if you persist in your refusal."

"I don't care two straws about your club," Lord St. Maurice answered
carelessly. "As for the duel, I decline it, once and for all. We
Englishmen have a code of honor of our own, and it is more to us than
the custom of the countries which we chance to visit. I wish you
good-night, gentlemen."

They fell back, impressed in spite of themselves by the coolness and
hauteur of his words. Suddenly, with the swiftness of a tiger-cat, the
Sicilian leaped forward and struck the Englishman on the cheek.

"Perhaps you will tell us all, Signor, how the men of your country
resent an insult such as that," he cried.

Every one turned round at the sound of the scuffle. The eyes of all were
upon the Englishman, who stood there, head and shoulders above all the
crowd, with blazing eyes and pale cheeks. He was in a towering passion,
but his voice never shook or faltered.