The two blades met.
Blood was as cool as ice.
There was upon his handsome face a smile of confidence and contempt for his rustic rival.
Andrew, on the contrary, was all on fire, and trembled with haste and excitement.
In an encounter between two such swordsmen the result could not for a moment be doubtful.
Andrew made a lunge that was prettily stopped by Colonel Blood.
His next attempt, however, was more successful.
Andrew rushed to closer distance, and pricked the arm, from which blood flowed copiously.
“Damnation!” swore the infuriated swordsman. “To be beaten by this country clown is a lasting disgrace; nevertheless, he shan’t live to boast of it!”
He gathered himself together for a final stroke, which would have proved fatal to the brave rustic, but Andrew turned the colonel’s point.