"Nothing whatever; I have not fenced since I was a boy."
"N'importe—then we'll fight at a barriere. I know they're not prepared for that from Englishmen; so just step on one side now, and leave me to talk it over."
As the limited nature of the ground did not permit me to retire to a distance, I became involuntarily aware of a dialogue, which even the seriousness of the moment could scarcely keep me from laughing at outright.
It was necessary, for the sake of avoiding any possible legal difficulty in the result, that O'Leary should give his assent to every step of the arrangement; and being totally ignorant of French, Trevanion had not only to translate for him, but also to render in reply O'Leary's own comments or objections to the propositions of the others.
"Then it is agreed—we fight at a barriere," said the Captain Derigny.
"What's that, Trevanion?"
"We have agreed to place them at a barriere," replied Trevanion.
"That's strange," muttered O'Leary to himself, who, knowing that the word meant a "turnpike," never supposed it had any other signification.
"Vingt quatre pas, n'est pas," said Derigny.
"Too far," interposed Trevanion.