'At him with your rapier _a la stoccata_!' said De Bitche, who had drawn his dagger, an unwarrantable proceeding, and his voice grew husky as he spoke, 'Ill betide you, Prince! be wary, or he will nail you to a chestnut tree.' 'Silence, Count!' I exclaimed, 'or, by Heaven, I will nail you first!' He slunk back to where the horses stood, and in an instant after I heard a snort, almost a cry, from one of them, and casting a glance that way, saw Dagobert plunging fearfully. This unusual circumstance so fully arrested my attention, that I narrowly escaped being run through the lungs; but recovering my guard, before the Count could withdraw his useless thrust, I grasped his rapier by the cross, wrested it away, and for a moment menaced his throat with my point; then I stepped back breathless with excitement and fatigue. The pale face of Vaudemont flushed crimson with shame and vexation. He uttered a fierce oath. 'Conquered again, and by you too--this is too much! I shall never again be able to hold up my head.' 'Nay, monsieur,' said I, bowing low, and presenting to him his sword-hilt; 'let us be friends from this time forward; and be it understood, that on whatever field we meet again, you and I, at least, engage no more.' 'So be it, M. Blane,' said he, grasping my hand with the sudden cordiality of a generous heart; 'we part friends; and in this half-hour's encounter, you have taught me some tricks in fencing which I shall not soon forget. Adieu--return to your pretty one at the auberge, and conduct her, yourself, to the gate of Nanci; but promise me, that you do not enter; for if taken prisoner there, even I may fail to protect you, as in Nanci, at least, the Duke my father reigns supreme.' He saluted me; leaped on his horse, and, followed by his amiable aide-de-camp, the Count de Bitche, who gave me a peculiar and malevolent smile, galloped away. CHAPTER XLIII. L'HOMME PROPOSE--DIEU DISPOSE. 'Dagobert, you devil of a nag,' said I, stroking his fine head; 'you nearly caused a kind master to lose his life, by making such an uproar.' Gathering the reins I prepared to mount, when suddenly the animal snorted again, and swerving round in an unusual manner, nearly fell upon his haunches. Blood on the grass now attracted my attention; and, to my astonishment, I found that the poor animal was wounded in the off hind-leg, and by a slash from a sharp instrument, was irretrievably hamstrung!