Then, those without, flattening their noses against the window or peering through the doorway, beheld a furious combat between them; the man, always cool and alert, checking the rushes of the girl with the point of his sword, turning, retreating, or advancing as his assailant, with the rapidity of a bird, flew from point to point, darting, feinting, or striking for an opening. Meanwhile above the scuffle and the patter of feet the voice of Dossonville rose imperturbably in running comment: "Hoop-là, parried! A little more to the left and you had me. Mordieu, who'd have thought a pretty woman would resent a kiss? Such a fraternal kiss, too, so full of gratitude! Perhaps that's the trouble; you never can tell with a woman. What now?" Bounding on the table, the girl without a pause leaped full at him. "Bravo! That's a jump for you. What a woman! Louison, you are splendid. Dame, what fury! À toi!" Hard pressed with the recklessness of her attacks, he threatened her throat so closely that, with the slightest stiffening of his arm, he would have run her through. "A life for a life! there's gratitude for you!" From outside they cried to him offers of help. "Never; any man that interferes, I'll shoot down. This little affair is between us,--eh, Louison? What now?" He sprang away, barely avoiding a chair hurled to break down his guard. "That was well imagined. Mille diables, what a woman--and not a sound! Louison, I adore you already. Louison, my dear, do you believe in another life? If you would only guarantee me another, I'd give you this out of courtesy,--only then I couldn't adore you. What energy! If you are getting tired, Louison, rest a while." But her answer was to fling herself again at him, seeking to come inside his guard by stooping suddenly to one side, grasping at his blade with her free hand. Dossonville, forced to meet the fury of the onslaught, a second time presented the point of his blade to her throat; but this time, so impetuous was her rush that only the instant withdrawal of the weapon saved her. "A second time, Louison, I spare you. My gratitude, you see, is eternal. Louison, you fight too recklessly, you expose yourself. You rely too much on my sense of gratitude. Hoop-là! Again I had you! If it's only a matter of a kiss that stands between us, you might give it back to me. Ha, ha! Well struck, Louison! Where will it end? My gratitude restrains me, and you must realize what a good fellow you are trying to end--" Suddenly, to the astonishment of all, Dossonville included, Louison halted, panting and heaving, restored the knife to her bosom, and burst out laughing. "Dossonville," she cried, flinging out her hand in acclamation, "you're a man!" He dropped on both knees, exclaiming: "That word disarms me. Do me the favor of cutting my neck." With a movement as swift as her attack, the girl passed to his side, and, bending suddenly, kissed him on the forehead. "That one, Dossonville," she cried, "you have deserved."