“Two or three spans,” asserted Quentin, to whom a span more or less mattered very little.
“And is it hard to manage that terrible weapon?”
“It has its difficulties.”
“Do you know how?”
“Naturally. But the really difficult thing is to hit a mark with a knife at a distance of twenty or thirty metres.”
“How do they do that?”
“Why, there’s nothing much to it. You place the knife like this,” and Quentin assumed that he had placed one in the palm of his hand, “and then you throw it with all your might. The knife flies like an arrow, and sticks wherever you wish.”
“How horrible!”
“That is what we call ‘painting a jabeque “A ca—a cha—a what?”