Avery’s favorite authority was “Bacon’s Abridgment.” This he carried with him from court to court, and from the tavern to the court house and back. It was always in his “green bag,” and the latter, when not in his saddle-bags, was in his hand or swinging from his arm. The book was carefully wrapped up in a piece of buckskin, to preserve it from wear. Avery quoted from and referred to “Bacon’s Abridgment” in every case and on all occasions, and of course had done so on the trial of the case out of which grew the duel; and Jackson had ridiculed Avery’s pet authority, but had not said anything derogatory to his opponent as a lawyer or a gentleman. Avery, in his retort, grew sarcastic; he not only criticised legal positions taken by Jackson, but intimated pretty strongly that he did not know anything about the law of that case or of any other, and that he had much to learn before he would be justified in criticising a law book written by anyone. This was enough to inflame Jackson, and it did. Jumping to his feet, he exclaimed: “I may not know as much law as there is in Bacon’s Abridgment, but I know enough not to take illegal fees!” Avery at once turned on Jackson, and demanded fiercely to know whether he meant to charge him with taking illegal fees. Jackson answered, “I do, sir,” and started to say more; but Avery, pointing and shaking his finger at his adversary, hissed through his teeth, “It’s as false as hell!” whereupon Jackson immediately sat down, picked up a law book, tore a blank leaf from it, wrote a challenge, delivered it to Avery, bowed to him ceremoniously, and walked out of the court house. Avery seated himself, wrote an acceptance of the challenge, walked out of the court house and, meeting John Adair, requested him to act as his second, and to deliver his note to Jackson. The latter, in the mean time, had met a friend, whom he asked to act as his second, and to whom he said that he did not wish to kill Avery; that Avery had interrupted him without hearing all that he had intended to say, which was that he (Avery) had taken illegal fees because of his ignorance of the latest law fixing a schedule of fees,[O] and not that he had done so corruptly; but that Avery’s manner and language were such as to prevent this intended explanation, which he could not afford to make afterward without the probability of being suspected of fearing Avery, and that he would rather be killed by his antagonist than suspected of cowardice. Jackson’s second (whose name I was never able to ascertain) unquestionably communicated to Adair, during the subsequent negotiations between them as to weapons, etc., the substance of what Jackson had said; and the two seconds determined that there should be no duel in earnest, or “shooting to kill,” as one of my informants expressed it. This agreement must have been communicated to both principals, before they left the town for the “field of honor,” as subsequent events clearly indicate.