go into my sentry-box, it aren't no fault o' mine."

He turned from them, marched to his little upright box, and entered it,
while before he could turn the two lads were dashing through the gate,
and directly after were beneath the trees.

It was rapidly growing lighter now; but the boys saw nothing of the
lovely pearly dawn and the soft wreaths of mist which floated over the
water. The birds were beginning to chirp and whistle, and as they ran
on blackbird after blackbird started from the low shrubs, uttering the
chinking alarm note, and flew onward like a velvet streak on the soft
morning glow.

In a minute or so they had reached the water-side, and stopped to
listen; but they could hear nothing but the gabbling and quacking of the
water-fowl.

"Too late--too late!" groaned Frank. "Which way shall we go?"

"Left," said Andrew shortly. "Sure to go farther away."

They started again, running now on the grass, and as they went on step
for step:

"Mayn't have begun yet," panted Andrew. "Sure to take time preparing
first.--There, hark!"

For from beneath a clump of trees, a couple of hundred yards in front,
there was an indistinct sound which might have meant anything. This the
boys attributed to the grinding together of swords, and hurried on.

Before they had gone twenty yards, though, it stopped; and as all
remained silent after they had gone on a short distance farther, the
pair stopped, too, and listened.

"Going wrong," said Frank despairingly.

"No. Right," whispered Andrew, grasping his companion's arm; for a low
voice in amongst the trees gave what sounded like an order, and directly
after there was a sharp click as of steel striking against steel,
followed by a grating, grinding sound, as of blade passing over blade.

Frank made a rush forward over the wet grass, disengaging his arm as he
did so; but Andrew bounded after him, and flung his arms about his
shoulders.

"Stop!" he whispered. "You're not going on if you are going to
interfere."

"Let go!" said Frank, in a choking voice. "I'm not going to interfere.
I am going to try and act like a man."

"Honour?"

"Honour!" and once more they ran on, to reach the trees and thread their
way through to where a couple of groups of gentlemen stood in a grassy
opening, looking on while two others, stripped to shirt and breeches,
were at thrust and parry, as if the world must be rid of one of them
before they had done.

As Frank saw that one