“‘Fight him, by all means,’ said Wooden-Leg Waddy.
“‘But the difficulty is this—he has offered me no affront, direct or indirect—we have no quarrel whatever—and he has not paid any addresses to the lady. He and I have scarcely been in contact at all. I do not see how I can manage it immediately with any propriety. What then can I do now?’
“‘Do not fight him, by any means,’ said Wooden-Leg Waddy.
“‘Still, these are the facts of the case. He, whether intentionally or not, is coming between me and my mistress, which is doing me an injury perfectly equal to the grossest insult. How should I act?’
“‘Fight him by all means,’ said Wooden-Leg Waddy.
“‘But then, I fear if I were to call him out on a groundless quarrel, or one which would appear to be such, that I should lose the good graces of the lady, and be laughed at by my friends, or set down as a dangerous and quarrelsome companion.’
“‘Do not fight him, by any means,’ said Wooden-Leg Waddy.
“‘Yet, as he is a military man, he must know enough of the etiquette of these affairs to feel perfectly confident that he has affronted me; and the opinion of the military man, standing, as of course, he does, in the rank and position of a gentleman, could not, I think, be overlooked without disgrace.’
“‘Fight him, by all means,’ said Wooden-Leg Waddy.