ed Otto warmly, "but remember I'm quite ready if
the others aren't of your way of thinking."

The Hanover boy went back to his clubmates, and told them the result of
his talk with Otto. He said the latter was not a coxcomb or a dandy, but
one of the best humored fellows he had ever met, and if he had been
driven to showing his temper on the street that morning it was the
result of their rudeness, and not Otto's ill will. The other boys quite
agreed with what their captain said, and he was asked to carry their
regrets to Otto for the unfortunate meeting and their hope that the
duels might not be fought.

The reconciliation was at once carried out, but the adventure did not
end there as far as the young paladin named Bismarck was concerned. The
Hanover captain, who was a year or two older than Otto, and knew much
more about the University, became his best friend, and soon one boy was
rarely seen without the other. There was no regular Prussian student
corps at Goettingen, and so Otto, when he had reached the University and
had been invited to join the Brunswick Club, had at once accepted. Now
his chum began to show him how much better the Hanover corps was than
that of Brunswick, and argued with him that as it was not a matter of
home pride, but simply a question as to which boys he liked best, he had
better join his new friends' club. It took little persuasion to convince
Otto that his wishes really all lay that way, and so he resigned from
the corps of Brunswick and was received into that of Hanover.

As soon as this news spread through the University the Brunswickers were
very indignant. They declared they had been grossly insulted, and that
Otto von Bismarck should be made to pay for this slight upon them. Their
captain and best swordsman at once challenged Otto to fight with the
schlaeger. Otto accepted, and the duel quickly took place.

This schlaeger fighting was an old custom of all the German universities,
and every boy who belonged to a corps was pretty sure to fight one or
more such duels. The schlaeger is very heavy and clumsy compared with a
dueling sword, and requires a very strong wrist and arm. Instead of
dexterous fencing the fighting is done by downright slashing and cutting
and usually ends when one or the other fighter has received a cut on the
face. The duel takes place with a great deal of ceremony, each student
being attended by a number of his own club, and each corps values as its
highest honor