Part 21 (1/2)

”Jack, I'm glad that young pup ain't me,” said Solomon. ”Thar never was a man better cocalated to please a friend er hurt an enemy. If he was to say pistols I guess that ol' sling o' yours would bu'st out laughin' an' I ain't no idee he could stan' a minnit in front o' your hanger.”

”It's bad business, and especially for you,” said Preston. ”Dueling is not so much in favor here as in France. Of course there are duels, but the best people in England are set against the practise. You would be sure to get the worst of it. The old General is a favorite of the King. He is booked for knighthood. If you were to kill his son in the present state of feeling here, your neck would be in danger. If you were to injure him you would have to make a lucky escape, or go to prison. It is not a pleasant outlook for one who is engaged to an English girl. He has a great advantage over you.”

”True, but it gives me a better chance to vindicate the courage of an American. I shall fight. I would rather die than lie down to such an insult. There has been too much of that kind of talk here. It can not go on in my hearing without being trumped. If I were capable of taking such an insult, I could never again face the girl I love. There must be an apology as public as the insult or a fight. I don't want to kill any man, but I must show them that their cap doesn't fit me.”

Jack and Solomon sat up late. The young man had tried to see Margaret that evening, but the door boy at Sir Benjamin's had informed him that the family was not at home. He rightly suspected that the boy had done this under orders from the Baronet. He wrote a long letter to the girl apprising her of late developments in the relations of the ministry and Doctor Franklin, regarding which the latter desired no secrecy, and of his own unhappy situation.

”If I could bear such an insult in silence,” he added, ”I should be unworthy of the fairest and dearest girl on earth. With such an estimate of you, I must keep myself in good countenance. Whatever happens, be sure that I am loving you with all my heart, and longing for the time when I can make you my wife.”

This letter he put into his pocket with the purpose of asking Preston to deliver it if circ.u.mstances should drive him out of England or into prison.

Captain Preston went with Solomon Binkus next day to the address on the card of Lieutenant Clarke. It was the house of the General, who was waiting with his son in the reception room. They walked together to the Almack Club. The General was self-contained. It would seem that his bad opinion of Yankees was not quite so comprehensive as it had been. The whole proceeding went forward with the utmost politeness.

”General, Mr. Binkus and John Irons, Jr., are my friends,” said Captain Preston.

”Indeed!” the General answered.

”Yes, and they are friends of England. They saved my neck in America.

I have a.s.sured young Irons that your words, if they were correctly reported to me, were spoken in haste, and that they do not express your real opinion.”

”And what, sir, were the words reported to you?” the General asked.

Preston repeated them.

”That is my opinion.”

”It is mine also,” young Clarke declared.

Solomon's face changed quickly. He took deliberate aim at the enemy and drawled:

”Can't be yer opinion is wuth more than the lives o' these young fellers that's goin' to fight.”

”Gentlemen, you will save time by dropping all thought of apologies,”

said the General.

”Then it only remains for you to choose your weapons and agree with us as to time and place,” said Preston.

”I choose pistols,” said the young Britisher. ”The time and place may suit your convenience, so it be soon and not too far away,”

”Let us say the cow wallow on Shooter's Hill, near the oaks, at sunrise to-morrow,” Preston proposed.

”I agree,” the Lieutenant answered.

”Whatever comes of it, let us have secrecy and all possible protection from each side to the other when the affair is ended,” said Preston.

”I agree to that also,” was the answer of young Clarke.

When they were leaving, Solomon said to Preston:

”That 'ere Gin'ral is as big as Goliar.”