A Soldier of Virginia | Page 3

flooded the clearing with still radiance. The tall, coarse
grass waved slowly to and fro in the faint breeze, and away off in the
forest I heard a wolf howling. The note, long and clear, rose and
quivered in the air, faint and far away. And as it died to silence, for the
first time the thought came to me that perchance my skill in fence
might not avail. Well, thank heaven, there was none to whom my death
would cause much sorrow, except--yes, Dorothy might care. At thought
of her, the forest faded from before me, and I saw her again as I had
seen her last, looking down upon me from the stair-head, and her kiss
was warm upon my lips.
"We are ready, Lieutenant Stewart," called Pennington, and I shook my
forebodings from me as I strode back toward him.
"Lieutenant Allen instructs me to say," began Preston, who was acting
as his second, "that an apology on the part of Lieutenant Stewart will
avert consequences which may, perhaps, be unpleasant."
"Lieutenant Stewart has no apologies to offer," I said shortly. "We are
wasting time, gentlemen."
"As you will," and Preston turned back to Allen.
My coat was off in an instant, and I rolled the sleeve of my shirt above
my elbow, the better to have it out of the way.
"May I have your sword, lieutenant?" asked Pennington, and he walked
with it over to where Preston stood. He was back in a moment. "Allen's
sword is fully an inch the longer," he said. "I have insisted that he
secure a shorter weapon."
"Nonsense!" I cried. "Let him keep his sword. I am two or three inches
the taller, and the advantage will still be on my side."
Pennington looked at me a moment in something like astonishment.

"Very well," he said at last, and stepped over and spoke another word
to Preston. Then he came back and handed me my sword. "You are a
gallant man, Lieutenant Stewart," he said as he did so.
"No more than many others in Virginia. 'T is that I mean to prove
to-night," I answered lightly, and I saluted my adversary and felt his
blade against my own. The first pass showed me that he was master of
the weapon, but I was far from dismayed. I saw his eyes widen with
surprise as I parried his thrust and pressed him so closely that he gave
back a step. I smiled dryly, for I knew my advantage. The earliest
lesson I had learned at the foils was that victory comes only to the man
who keeps his coolness. I had drunk little wine, while Allen had drunk
much, and his bloodshot eyes told of previous nights spent over the
cups and dice. No, decidedly, I had little to fear. Allen must have read
something of my thought in my eyes, for his face flushed to a yet
darker crimson, he pulled himself together with an effort, and by a trick
which I had never seen, got inside my guard. His point was at my
breast, but I leaped back and avoided it.
"Ah, you break!" he cried. "'Tis not so easy as you fancied!"
I did not answer, contenting myself with playing more cautiously than I
had done in my self-satisfaction of a moment before. Out of the corners
of my eyes, I could see a portion of the circle of white faces about us,
but they made no sound, and what their expression was I could not tell.
The night air and the fast work were doing much to sober my opponent,
and I felt his wrist grow stronger as he held down my point for an
instant. It was his turn to smile, and I felt my cheeks redden at the
expression of his face. Again he got inside my guard, but again I was
out of reach ere he could touch me. I saw that I was making but a sorry
showing, and I tried the thrust of which I had had the bad taste to boast,
but he turned it aside quite easily. And then, of a sudden, I heard the
beat of a horse's hoofs behind me.
"For shame, gentlemen!" cried a clear voice, which rang familiar in my
ears. "Can the king's soldiers find no enemies to his empire that they
must fight among themselves?"

Our seconds struck up our swords, and Allen looked over my shoulder
with a curse.
"Another damned provincial, upon my life!" he cried. "Was there ever
such impudence!"
[Illustration: "FOR SHAME GENTLEMEN!"]
As he spoke, the horseman swung himself from the saddle with an easy
grace which declared long training in it, and walked coolly toward us.
"Lieutenant Stewart," he said to me sternly, "I did not think to