We went into a kind of saloon which contained foils and masks, and we placed ourselves on guard. I shot badly, as I have said—although Grisier, out of friendliness towards me, had spread my reputation as a good shot, thus sparing me more than one duel—only, at that time, having had occasion to do a small service to a good fellow called Castelli, who was a first-rate swordsman and served as teacher to all the celebrated masters, he had found no other means of satisfying himself about me than to come from time to time to give me a lesson. The result was that without being aware of it (his lessons were so excellent), I found I was better than I thought myself to be. As Grisier's pupil, I put myself on the defensive rather than attacked. Carrel gave me several lunges, which I avoided either by leaping aside or by parrying them. Carrel was easily carried away by excitement, and I felt that his exercise showed signs of great excitement.
"Take care," I said to him, "by such action as that on the ground you run great risk of being stopped short or touched during parry and thrust."
"True," he said, flinging away his foil; "but I am as fatalistic as a Mussulman: what will happen has been decreed beforehand."
"Do you think I draw well enough to put down my name?"
"Yes; but I will not put you down."
"Why not?"
"Because, although I have received a list and it has a dozen names on it, yet, from among that dozen names Le National has only to select one."
"Well?"
"I choose M. Roux-Laborie."