"Perhaps he can. But you have not yet received a challenge from Colonel Vallier; so don't worry about what may not happen."
"I can't help worrying. I shall not take any further pleasure in life till we get out of this dreadful city."
"Oh, brace up! Come on; let's go out and see the sights."
"No, Frank—no, my boy. I am indisposed—I am quite ill. Besides that, I might meet Colonel Vallier. I shall remain in my room for the present."
So Frank was obliged to go out alone, and, when he returned for supper, he found the professor in bed, looking decidedly like a sick man.
"I am very ill, Frank—very ill," Scotch declared. "I fear I am in for a protracted illness."
"Nonsense, professor! Why, you'll miss all the fun to-morrow, and we're here to see the sport."
"Confound the sport! I wish we had stayed away from this miserable place!"
"Why, you were very enthusiastic over New Orleans and the people of the South this morning."
"Hang the people of the South—hang them all! They're too hot-headed—they're altogether too ready to fight over nothing. Now, I'm a peaceable man, and I can't fight—I simply can't!"