Besides, he remembered to have heard it frequently surmised by the uninitiated in such matters, that by an understood arrangement between the seconds, the pistols were seldom loaded with ball; and, furthermore, he reflected that if he applied to Mr Snodgrass to act as his second, and depicted the danger in glowing terms, that gentleman might possibly communicate the intelligence to Mr Pickwick, who would certainly lose no time in transmitting it to the local authorities, and thus prevent the killing or maiming of his follower.

Such were his thoughts when he returned to the coffee-room, and intimated his intention of accepting the Doctor’s challenge.

‘Will you refer me to a friend, to arrange the time and place of meeting?’ said the officer.

‘Quite unnecessary,’ replied Mr Winkle; ‘name them to me, and I can procure the attendance of a friend, afterwards.’

‘Shall we say – sunset this evening?’ inquired the officer, in a careless tone.

‘Very good,’ replied Mr Winkle; thinking in his heart it was very bad.

‘You know Fort Pitt?’

‘Yes; I saw it yesterday.’

‘If you will take the trouble to turn into the field which borders the trench, take the foot-path to the left, when you arrive at an angle of the fortification; and keep straight on ’till you see me; I will precede you to a secluded place, where the affair can be conducted without fear of interruption.’

‘Fearof interruption!’ thought Mr Winkle.

‘Nothing more to arrange, I think,’ said the officer.

‘I am not aware of anything more,’ replied Mr Winkle.

‘Good morning.’

‘Good morning:’ and the officer whistled a lively air, as he strode away.

That morning’s breakfast passed heavily off. Mr Tupman was not in a condition to rise, after the unwonted dissipation of the previous night; Mr Snodgrass appeared to labour under a poetical depression of spirits; and even Mr Pickwick evinced an unusual attachment to silence and soda water. Mr Winkle eagerly watched his opportunity. It was not long wanting. Mr Snodgrass proposed a visit to the castle, and as Mr Winkle was the only other member of the party disposed to walk, they went out together.

‘Snodgrass,’ said Mr Winkle, when they had turned out of the public street; ‘Snodgrass, my dear fellow, can I rely upon your secresy?’ As he said this, he most devoutly and earnestly hoped he could not.

‘You can,’ replied Mr Snodgrass. ‘Hear me swear – ’

‘No, no;’ interrupted Winkle, terrified at the idea of his companion’s unconsciously pledging himself not to give information; ‘don’t swear, don’t swear; it’s quite unnecessary.’

Mr Snodgrass dropped the hand which he had, in the spirit of poesy, raised towards the clouds, as he made the above appeal, and assumed an attitude of attention.

‘I want your assistance, my dear fellow, in an affair of honour,’ said Mr Winkle.

‘You shall have it,’ replied Mr Snodgrass, clasping his friend’s hand.

‘With a Doctor – Doctor Slammer, of the Ninety-seventh,’ said Mr Winkle, wishing to make the matter appear as solemn as possible; ‘an affair with an officer, seconded by another officer, at sunset this evening, in a lonely field beyond Fort Pitt.’

‘I will attend you,’ said Mr Snodgrass.

He was astonished, but by no means dismayed. It is extraordinary how cool any party but the principal can be in such cases. Mr Winkle had forgotten this. He had judged of his friend’s feelings by his own.

‘The consequences may be dreadful,’ said Mr Winkle.

‘I hope not,’ said Mr Snodgrass.

‘The Doctor, I believe, is a very good shot,’ said Mr Winkle.

‘Most of these military men are,’ observed Mr Snodgrass, calmly; ‘but so are you, an’t you?’

Mr Winkle replied in the affirmative; and perceiving that he had not alarmed his companion sufficiently, changed his ground.

‘Snodgrass,’ he said, in a voice tremulous with emotion, ‘if I fall, you will find in a packet which I shall place in your hands a note for my – for my father.’

This attack was a failure also. Mr Snodgrass was affected, but he undertook the delivery of the note, as readily as if he had been a Twopenny Postman.²¹

‘If I fall,’ said Mr Winkle, ‘or if the Doctor falls, you, my dear friend, will be tried as an accessory before the fact. Shall I involve my friend in transportation²²– possibly for life!’

Mr Snodgrass winced a little at this, but his heroism was invincible.

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