''Mr. Percival,' replied my neighbor, in a constrained voice, 'this interview, after the violence which commenced it, must naturally be most painful to me, and I presume equally so to you. Allow me, in as few words as possible, to bring it to a close. I own that I was wrong in pledging my word of honor to what was not wholly true. Until you claimed Adéle here this night, as your wife, I had for months supposed you had abandoned all title to the name of husband; that you had mutually consented to a divorce, and under that impression I denied that Adéle was my mistress, for in February last, I was married to her at Baton Rouge. In presence of the proofs you possess, it were useless to deny that Adéle is at this moment in this city. I have seen her this very day, and I own that I know where she resides. More than this, it will be useless for you to attempt to extort from me. I refuse beforehand to answer any further interrogatory. I can fully conceive the hatred my presence must inspire within your breast; I will not even pretend to regret it; for this hatred, springing from a sense of dishonor, will preclude the possibility of any thing save the death of one of us, terminating the appeal for satisfaction which I have already claimed. I have done, sir, and wait your reply.' 'Some seconds elapsed ere Adéle's husband replied. His voice had grown calmer and more restrained, and I imagined that he had recovered his self-control. ''Arthur,' said he, 'I shall not challenge you, neither will I accept a challenge from you.' ''You refuse to meet me,' said my neighbor, 'and for what reason?' ''Because I do not hate, I merely pity you; because he who first defiled my home, lies in his sandy grave beside the waters of Lake Ponchartrain; because beside that grave I vowed to my Maker and my God never again to dare to take into these blood-stained hands the holy scales of justice. Yes, Arthur, it is four long years since I sent that wretched victim of that woman to his last solemn reckoning. Look at me to-day; my locks are white; 'tis not with age: I have not yet lived out the half of man's allotted span on earth. But that bleeding corpse; the trickling, oozing drops from out that breast; the gurgling sound of the unuttered death-words of Adéle's first seducer--these have made me prematurely old. Oh! woe to him who dares to seek and takes revenge. Vengeance has been claimed as Heaven's sole, supreme prerogative. Arthur, I must, I do refuse your challenge.' ''Sir, I shall not deign to notice your calumnies about Adéle, for I am anxious to terminate this interview. May I ask why you seek to prolong it, and why, if you so loathe Adéle, you persecute me by following her?' ''Because I am resolved on two points--to see her, and to learn from her where she has secreted our child.' ''Unless you pledge yourself, Mr. Percival, not to make any further attempt to see Adéle, you shall not, if I can prevent, leave this room alive.'