With one gleam of moonlight
we should have riddled him with balls; but, in the darkness, he won to
the corner of the Castle, and vanished from our sight.
"The deuce take him!" grinned Sapt.
"It's a pity," said I, "that he's a villain. Whom have we got?"
We had Lauengram and Krafstein: they lay dead; and, concealment being
no longer possible, we flung them, with Max, into the moat; and, drawing
together in a compact body, rode off down the hill. And, in our midst,
went the bodies of three gallant gentlemen. Thus we travelled home,
heavy at heart for the death of our friends, sore uneasy concerning
the King, and cut to the quick that young Rupert had played yet another
winning hand with us.
For my own part, I was vexed and angry that I had killed no man in open
fight, but only stabbed a knave in his sleep. And I did not love to hear
Rupert call me a play-actor.
CHAPTER 15
I Talk with a Tempter
Ruritania is not England, or the quarrel between Duke Michael and myself
could not have gone on, with the extraordinary incidents which marked
it, without more public notice being directed to it. Duels were frequent
among all the upper classes, and private quarrels between great men
kept the old habit of spreading to their friends and dependents.
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