ad breakfasted in the morning, which was
a scene of the wildest disorder. The round table in the centre had
been tilted over upon its side, and three broken bottles of wine, with
apples, pears, nuts, and the fragments of the dishes containing them,
were littered over the floor. A couple of packs of cards and a dice-box
lay amongst the scattered feast. Close by the door stood Decimus Saxon,
with his drawn rapier in his hand and a second one beneath his feet,
while facing him there was a young officer in a blue uniform, whose face
was reddened with shame and anger, and who looked wildly about the room
as though in search of some weapon to replace that of which he had been
deprived. He might have served Cibber or Gibbons as a model for a statue
of impotent rage. Two other officers dressed in the same blue uniform
stood by their comrade, and as I observed that they had laid their hands
upon the hilts of their swords, I took my place by Saxon's side, and
stood ready to strike in should the occasion arise.

'What would the maitre d'armes say--the maitre d'escrime?' cried my
companion. 'Methinks he should lose his place for not teaching you to
make a better show. Out on him! Is this the way that he teaches the
officers of his Majesty's guard to use their weapons?'

'This raillery, sir,' said the elder of the three, a squat, brown,
heavy-faced man, 'is not undeserved, and yet might perchance be
dispensed with. I am free to say that our friend attacked you somewhat
hastily, and that a little more deference should have been shown by so
young a soldier to a cavalier of your experience.'

The other officer, who was a fine-looking, noble-featured man, expressed
himself in much the same manner. 'If this apology will serve,' said he,
'I am prepared to join in it. If, however, more is required, I shall be
happy to take the quarrel upon myself.'

'Nay, nay, take your bradawl!' Saxon answered good-humouredly, kicking
the sword towards his youthful opponent. 'But, mark you! when you would
lunge, direct your point upwards rather than down, for otherwise you
must throw your wrist open to your antagonist, who can scarce fail to
disarm you. In quarte, tierce, or saccoon the same holds good.'

The youth sheathed his sword, but was so overcome by his own easy defeat
and the contemptuous way in which his opponent had dismissed him, that
he turned and hurried out of the room. Meanwhile Decimus Saxon and the
two officers set to work getting th