General D&rsquo;Hubert had recovered his powers of speech. &ldquo;So you come here like this along the road to invite me to a throat-cutting match with that&mdash;that . . .&rdquo; A laughing sort of rage took possession of him. &ldquo;Ha! ha! ha! ha!&rdquo; </p> <p> His fists on his hips, he roared without restraint, while they stood before him lank and straight, as though they had been shot up with a snap through a trap door in the ground. Only four-and-twenty months ago the masters of Europe, they had already the air of antique ghosts, they seemed less substantial in their faded coats than their own narrow shadows falling so black across the white road: the military and grotesque shadows of twenty years of war and conquests. They had an outlandish appearance of two imperturbable bonzes of the religion of the sword. And General D&rsquo;Hubert, also one of the ex-masters of Europe, laughed at these serious phantoms standing in his way. </p> <p> Said one, indicating the laughing General with a jerk of the head: &ldquo;A merry companion, that.&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;There are some of us that haven&rsquo;t smiled from the day The Other went away,&rdquo; remarked his comrade. </p> <p> A violent impulse to set upon and beat those unsubstantial wraiths to the ground frightened General D&rsquo;Hubert. He ceased laughing suddenly. His desire now was to get rid of them, to get them away from his sight quickly before he lost control of himself. He wondered at the fury he felt rising in his breast. But he had no time to look into that peculiarity just then. </p> <p> &ldquo;I understand your wish to be done with me as quickly as possible. Don&rsquo;t let us waste time in empty ceremonies. Do you see that wood there at the foot of that slope? Yes, the wood of pines. Let us meet there to-morrow at sunrise. I will bring with me my sword or my pistols, or both if you like.&rdquo; </p> <p> The seconds of General Feraud looked at each other. </p> <p> &ldquo;Pistols, General,&rdquo; said the cuirassier. </p> <p> &ldquo;So be it. Au revoir&mdash;to-morrow morning. Till then let me advise you to keep close if you don&rsquo;t want the gendarmerie making inquiries about you before it gets dark. Strangers are rare in this part of the country.&rdquo; </p> <p> They saluted in silence. General D&rsquo;Hubert, turning his back on their retreating forms, stood still in the middle of the road for a long time, biting his lower lip and looking on the ground. Then he began to walk straight before him, thus retracing his steps till he found himself before the park gate of his intended&rsquo;s house. Dusk had fallen. Motionless he