“My dear fellow,” he began, “I can stand it.”
“It is not for you to stand,” said Mark. “It is for me. It is I who owe the debt, and I shall not pay it with blows. Mr. Fischer, I shall not fight you.”
“But what will you do? You will be reviled and insulted as a coward.”
“Yes,” said Mark, firmly; “I will. But as I once told Texas, there are a few things worse than being called a coward, and one of them is being one.”
“I know,” protested Fischer. “But then——”
“There are times,” Mark continued, without heeding him, “times, I say, when to fight is wrong.”
“Yes!” cried the other. “This is one.”
“It is,” said Mark. “And at such times it takes more courage not to fight than to fight. When an army goes out to battle for the wrong the brave man stays at home. That is a time when it takes courage to be a coward. And Mr. Fischer——”
Mark took the other by the hand and met his gaze.
“Mr. Fischer, I have the courage to be a coward.”