"Ah, then you have concluded to try the sword? A more gentlemanly weapon it would be hard to find. Let swords decide it, then."
I saw a glow of satisfaction upon the face of the lieutenant, and I knew that his principal was an adept in the use of the sword as well as though he had told me in so many words.
"I cannot make choice of the sword," I replied, "because my friend does not understand its use, and therefore the advantage would be all on your side."
"Then pray name what weapon you will fight with," Merriam said, impatiently.
"This is the weapon we will use," I replied, producing, to the astonishment of the officer, my three foot six inch barrel rifle, which, during our absence the day before, Smith had cleaned and polished up thoroughly.
"What is that?" he asked, astonished.
"This," I replied, "is an American rifle, and a very good one it is, I assure you."
"But we cannot fight with only one, and unless another is produced precisely like it, some other weapon will have to be resorted to," cried the officer, with a slight expression of joy.
"I am aware of that," I replied coolly, and to his astonishment I presented him with a fac-simile of the first.
"These rifles," I remarked, "were both made by the same person, and he was instructed to manufacture them without a shade of difference in regard to size or weight. The only method we have of telling them apart is to consult the stocks, where our names are engraved. Examine them attentively, and then select whichever you please. One is as good as the other, and each carries well."