"A good walk will do you good," he said, and after telling him the preliminaries, and the place where they were to meet, the conversation was changed and they walked slowly on till the edge of the Downs was reached, and they soon after entered an extensive wood, walking down a leafy glade where all seemed wonderfully peaceful, and its solemnity was so soothing to Richard Linnell that he was about to throw himself upon the turf when Colonel Mellersh stopped short, and pointing to a gnarled beech of stunted growth, exclaimed: "That will do exactly." "Do?" said Linnell. "Do for what?" "Why, my dear boy, do you suppose I have brought you out here for nothing? No; since the abominable code for furbishing up injured honour exists, and a man may be called out, it is our duty to prepare for emergencies. You cannot use a pistol?" "No," said Richard, shaking his head. "I can. I have been out six times, and I'm going to show you how to hit your man and save yourself." "I don't want to hit Major Rockley." "But I want you to hit him and save yourself. My dear boy, you are worth five thousand Major Rockleys to your father, and we must not have you hurt." As he spoke, to Richard's great surprise, he took out a brace of duelling pistols with flask and bullets, and after loading skilfully he took a few cards from his breast, and going to the stunted tree, tacked one on each of two boughs about on a level with a man's outstretched arms, another on the trunk, and another higher still, where the head would be. "I used to practise with the pistol a great deal at one time, Dick, and I could hit either of those address cards as many times as I liked." "Then I will not quarrel with you and call you out." "Don't," said the Colonel, handing him a pistol, and proceeding to step out fifteen paces. "There," he said, "stand there and aim at that card on the trunk. That is where a man's heart would be. I will count slowly, and when I come to three, raise your pistol quickly and fire." "One--two--_three_!" Richard Linnell raised his pistol, and drew the trigger, but there was no report. "It will not go off," he said. "No," replied the Colonel; "pistols never will, unless you cock them." "Pish!" ejaculated Richard, repairing the omission. "Again." The Colonel counted once more; there was a flash, a sharp report, and a leaf or two fell from high up a tree to the right of the target. "Take the other," said the Colonel quietly; "hold it a little more firmly, and raise it slowly. The moment your eye glances straight along the barrel, press the trigger softly, so as not to jerk the pistol. Ready? Now--one--two--_three_!" There was another sharp report, and the Colonel smiled. "That's better," he said. "Your first bullet went over the enemy's head twenty feet or so. That one would have him in the shoulder. Try again."