‘Paukanten parat? Are the combatants ready?’ inquired the umpire, who was the chief of the Westphalians.
‘Parat! Ready!’ was answered from both sides simultaneously.
‘Silence!’ cried the umpire. ‘The duel begins. Auf die Mensur! Fertig! Los!’
Hollenstein and his adversary walked forward, accompanied by their seconds. Each struck a formal tierce cut at the other, and a halt was cried. They scarcely retired and the umpire repeated the words ‘To the fight! Ready! Go!’ and the duel began in earnest. Both were accomplished swordsmen, and the combat promised to be a long one. They exhibited to the admiring spectators every intricacy of schlager fencing, in all its wonderful neatness and quickness of cut and parry. From time to time a halt was called, and each man retired to his original place, his right arm being caught and held in air by the ‘bearing-fox,’ as the novice is called whose business it is to fill the office. The object of this proceeding is to prevent a rush of blood to the arm, which might cause pain and numbness in the member and interfere with the combatant’s quickness.
‘A couple of good fencers,’ remarked Rex as he rose from his chair and went to prepare himself for what was before him.
‘You will see what will happen,’ answered Greif with a smile of confidence in his comrade.
The ‘drumming,’ as the students call it, proceeded for some minutes, and nothing was heard in the hall but the sharp whistle and ring of the blades and the sound of shuffling feet upon the sawdust-covered floor. All at once Hollenstein turned his hand completely round upon his wrist in the act of striking what is called a deep-carte, remained a moment in this singular position, which seemed to confuse his adversary, and then as the latter was making up his mind what to do, suddenly finished the movement and returned to his guard in time to parry the inevitable tierce. A thin line of scarlet instantly appeared upon the Saxon’s face, straight across his left cheek.
‘Halt!’ cried both seconds at once.
‘She sat!’ exclaimed the second of the Swabians, throwing down his blunt sword and making for a goblet of beer that was placed in readiness for him, as though he took no further interest in the proceedings. Hollenstein stood as usual with his arm supported by the novice, while the Saxon was examined by the surgeon.
‘Abfuhr!’ said the latter. The word means that the wounded man must be removed.