Dragon's blood

oy

ai

me, you talkee he, master no go

n d

ho, with horse-clippers and a pair of enormous iron shears, was trimming the stubborn chestnut locks still closer. The afternoon glow, reflected from the burnt gras

y, sat on the table swi

," he said, with airy wisdom. "Quite the gen

we might save the day. But our man won't even listen to that. Fight's the word. Chantel will see, on the spot, directly they face. But will that stop

e--the face of a street-bred urchin--slo

'ouse inside out--loafs there now, the beggar, with Chantel's cook. Why not send him over--prowling, ye know--fingers the bric-a-brac, bloo

nd bowed his head t

y on his galley: 'This thou shouldst have done, and not have spoken on't,'--Besides, those swords belonged to

umbled that the gory affair

ghed. Then suddenly the gray eyes lighted, became both shrewd and distant; a malicious little smile stole about the corners of his mouth. "Have-got

et on the shorn head, and st

's nearly time. We must p

. In the shade of the nunnery gate they found Rudolph, who, r

oking his last--from the ditch at their feet to the red tiles, patched with bronze mould, th

ed some ground before R

, please?" He hesitated. "I hope neither of you will misunderstand me. I'm horribly afraid, but not--but only because this fellow w

on the shoulder, and

in a while we can finish in style.' Eh?--Rudie, you blooming Germ

d tried again to cough. This time, howeve

re no companions--not even presences. He went alone, conscious only of the long flood of sunset, and the black interlacing pattern of bamboos. The one friendly spirit h

ears ago--sprawled in desolation among wild shrubs. A little way down the path stood Teppich and Chantel, each with his back turned and his hands clasped, like a pair of sulky Napoleons, one fat, one slender. The wooden pretense of their attitude set Rudolph, for an instant, to laughing silently and bitterly. This final scene,--what justice, that it should be a mean waste, the wreck of silly pleasure-grounds, long forgotten, and now used only by g

speaking earnes

the balance of the swo

aked that battered convivia

turn, frowning, then nod and smile. The nod was courteou

puffy eyes turned furtively toward Rudolph. "May be bad form, Hackh, but--we all wish you luck, I fancy." Then, i

n, this strange second

wo friends took shelter behind a ragged clump of plantains. The yellow leaves, half dead

, three-cornered blade, with shallow grooves in which blood was soon to run, the silver hilt where his enemy's father had set,

y. "Come, show me how to begin;

formed with a sudden youthful grace, Heywood moved

that his own clumsy i

.--He can'

ns of this odd rehearsal. Suddenly Heywood stepped back, and low

d: "won't you let me tell h

s head, like a

he answered coldly,

circle, and sped home. By a wild instinct, the novice beat it awkwardly aside. His friend laughed, poised again, disengaged again, but in mid-career of this heartless play, stumbled and came pitching forward. Rudolph darted back, swept his arm blin

kerchief, he twisted on a tourniquet, muttering condolence: "Pain much? Lost my balance, you know. That better?--Wh

hen a grin of mysterious joy. Sturgeon gave a sympathetic whistle, and stolidly unwound bandages. At first the two Napo

ly on a plantain leaf; then stood erect, t

g, and picking his words. "We were at practice, and my

ands, in a motion at on

tell me, please, since your

led upon him

more rage than the other man's heat. "This was entirely my fault. It's I who have spo

replied Chantel, contemptuousl

"--the young man appealed to the company, smiling--"besides, what a pity to postpone matt

ortal pallor, and for one rigid moment, took on such a strange beauty as though it were about to be translated into bronze. Hi

"Since we are all so--irregula

ve come forward; but Sturgeon clung to t

addressing a horse; then growled inHeywoo

h." The young man held the sword across his t

iminary silence, he stood waiting as

ngering on the silver hilt, while the blade answered as delicately as the bow to a violinist. At last he came forward,

was fencing; and though his attacks came ceaseless and quick as flame, he was plainly prolonging them, discarding them, repeating, varying, whether for black-hearted merriment, or the vanity of perfect for

ting on toes and finger-tips, like a runner about to spring from a mark. Rudolph, dizzy with pain and suspense, nursed his forear

, swooped in with fingers touching the ground. On "th

desperate sleight, had parried the certainty, and even tried a riposte.

ke that! Fair f

owded bodies, of yellow faces grinning or agape, in the breach of the compound wall. Men of the neighboring hamlet had gathered, to watch the

lose defense, Chantel was forcing on the end. He gave a panting laugh. Instantly, all saw the weaker blade fly wide, the stronger swerve, to dart in victori

asping. Strange yells broke out, as from a tribe of apes. The air was thick with hurtling globes. Cocoanuts rained upon the company, tempestu

ies!" First to recover, he skipped abou

p in the wall, throwing continually, howl

and started, sword in h

breach. At the first shock, the rioters broke and scattered, fled round corners of the wall, crashed through bamboos, went leaping across paddy-fields toward the river. The tumult--except for lonely how

a tall, stooping figure paced slowly toward the town, his long robe a moving stri

s bandage was red and sopping. Chantel, more rueful than either, stared down at a bleeding hand,

hild with a broken toy; "there are

an, lamenting the broken shells and empty baskets of his small venture.--"Contribution, you chaps. A bad day for imported cocoanuts. Wish I carried some money: t