affected powerfully a man just risen from a bed of sickness. Lieut. D&rsquo;Hubert&rsquo;s hand, which grasped the knob of a stick, trembled slightly. But his northern temperament, sentimental yet cautious and clear-sighted, too, in its idealistic way, checked his impulse to make a clean breast of the whole deadly absurdity. According to the precept of transcendental wisdom, he turned his tongue seven times in his mouth before he spoke. He made then only a speech of thanks. </p> <p> The colonel listened, interested at first, then looked mystified. At last he frowned. &ldquo;You hesitate?&mdash;mille tonnerres! Haven&rsquo;t I told you that I will condescend to argue with you&mdash;as a friend?&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;Yes, Colonel!&rdquo; answered Lieut. D&rsquo;Hubert, gently. &ldquo;But I am afraid that after you have heard me out as a friend you will take action as my superior officer.&rdquo; </p> <p> The attentive colonel snapped his jaws. &ldquo;Well, what of that?&rdquo; he said, frankly. &ldquo;Is it so damnably disgraceful?&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;It is not,&rdquo; negatived Lieut. D&rsquo;Hubert, in a faint but firm voice. </p> <p> &ldquo;Of course, I shall act for the good of the service. Nothing can prevent me doing that. What do you think I want to be told for?&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;I know it is not from idle curiosity,&rdquo; protested Lieut. D&rsquo;Hubert. &ldquo;I know you will act wisely. But what about the good fame of the regiment?&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;It cannot be affected by any youthful folly of a lieutenant,&rdquo; said the colonel, severely. </p> <p> &ldquo;No. It cannot be. But it can be by evil tongues. It will be said that a lieutenant of the 4th Hussars, afraid of meeting his adversary, is hiding behind his colonel. And that would be worse than hiding behind a haystack&mdash;for the good of the service. I cannot afford to do that, Colonel.&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;Nobody would dare to say anything of the kind,&rdquo; began the colonel very fiercely, but ended the phrase on an uncertain note. The bravery of Lieut. D&rsquo;Hubert was well known. But the colonel was well aware that the duelling courage, the single combat courage, is rightly or wrongly supposed to be courage of a special sort. And it was eminently necessary that an officer of his regiment should possess every kind of courage&mdash;and prove it, too. The colonel stuck out his lower lip, and looked far away with a peculiar glazed stare. This was the expression of his perplexity&mdash;an expression practically unknown to his regiment; for perplexity is a sentiment which is incompatible with the rank of colonel of cavalry. The