Page:In the name of a woman (1900).djvu/204

 a fight," I replied, growing uneasy at his words. "What do you suspect? After a blow, too, he must fight."

"He's the sort of man who'd be capable of anything. He might insult you openly like that, send the challenge, and then have you seized secretly and shut up, and when you didn't appear on the ground in the morning, post you for a coward. I know him."

"It would be an infernal move!" I cried hotly.

"It would be reckoned a smart Russian trick," said Zoiloff drily.

"Then, we'll checkmate it. We'll have enough men here to make my arrest impossible; or, better still, perhaps I'll pass the night somewhere else. You and Spernow can arrange all the preliminaries of the meeting, and appoint a meeting somewhere to-morrow morning, but not fix the actual ground until that appointment is kept by him and his seconds only. I will be where you can readily fetch me."

"Good! Yes, we'll do that. You'll have choice of weapons. What shall they be? I should choose pistols. You're sure to kill him."

"He shall have a chance to save his life. We'll have swords. But, mind, the fight is to be to the death. No stopping for a trickle of blood!"

"That's the spirit I like," cried Zoiloff bluntly; and then we discussed the plan I had suggested. He told me where I could sleep and he and Spernow could find me in the morning.

"I should be off at once if I were you—and, mind, get a night's rest. You'll need all your skill, even if we succeed in bringing him up to the scratch."

"I'll go the moment Spernow arrives."

"Then take my advice. Let your people have a