"Perfectly."
"Then good-by. By the way, may I ask you to bring the rifles to the ground? I am sorry to trouble you, but in the case you know—"
"I understand. Be under no concern; I will see that the guns are in good condition, and ready for your loading."
"Thank you. Another request I have to make. May I ask that you will not bring a surgeon on the ground, but trust to the regimental one whom we shall have present. You are strangers, and by expressing a desire for a doctor, might communicate an alarm to the police, which would have a tendency to postpone the meeting."
"I thank you for the suggestion, sir," I answered, "and will do as you request; although I frankly tell you, that I hope there will be no occasion for a surgeon to exercise his duties."
"The affair has gone too far to be stopped without blood-letting, I think," replied Merriam, shaking his head, "although with some men I should not yet give up all hope of a pacification."
He shook me warmly by the hand as he took his departure, and I was left alone to meditate on the disagreeable duty which I had assumed for my best friend. I little thought, at the time I was so calmly making the arrangements for the duel, that his adversary, Lieutenant Wattles, had already killed two men, in spite of his youth, and that a more determined duellist did not exist on the island.
I had just mixed a strong glass of punch, and was about to raise it to my lips, for the purpose of looking cheerful when Fred returned, when I heard his voice.
"Ah, that is stealing a march on us, old boy," he shouted, pleasantly. "Here have we been parading the dusty streets of Melbourne, and my eyes, ears, and mouth are filled with dirt and cobble stones. However, we saw nothing of the city, for such clouds of dust filled the air that we had to hire a boy with a lantern to lead us home. Hand me the bottle, for I'm famished for want of a drink."