Hagen! I hadn't seen him come. I'd almost forgotten him, in fact.
We both bowed.
"I've brought with me," he explained, "everything required for a meeting without seconds."
He produced a fountain-pen and some paper.
"Revolvers being the weapon selected," he said, "I've brought mine. We can draw lots if you like, but I think it's hardly necessary. The model is the same. Now will you be good enough to sign this?"
He had taken the precaution of drawing up a statement, in my name and his, wherein the two adversaries testified in advance that everything had been quite fair and regular.
"In case there's an accident, this will save the survivor a good deal of trouble," he thought fit to explain.
Officialism could hardly go further. All the same I was curious to know how the signal was to be given. I couldn't help asking him.
He smiled, a smile full of self-satisfaction.
"I've seen to that all right," he replied.