"That will just do!"
"What the deuce? I suppose one of them will fire with it first, and if he does not hit his man he'll hand it over to the other, and he'll fire back with it?"
"Precisely!"
The crooked critic said this with such a solemn face that it was impossible not to believe him. This was quite a novel mode of duelling, and not a bad idea either.
Early next morning, before I had got up, the second again appeared before me. He brought back the fatal pistol.
"It is over," said he, with mournful dignity.
"What was the result?"
"Our poor friend was hit!"
"The bullet penetrated his arm. But it has been taken out now."