And that would be worse than hiding behind
a haystack--for the good of the service. I cannot afford to do that,
colonel."
"Nobody would dare to say anything of the kind," the colonel, beginning
very fiercely, ended on an uncertain note. The bravery of Lieutenant
D'Hubert was well known; but the colonel was well aware that the
duelling courage, the single combat courage, is, rightly or wrongly,
supposed to be courage of a special sort; and it was eminently
necessary that an officer of his regiment should possess every kind
of courage--and prove it, too. The colonel stuck out his lower lip and
looked far away with a peculiar glazed stare. This was the expression of
his perplexity, an expression practically unknown to his regiment, for
perplexity is a sentiment which is incompatible with the rank of colonel
of cavalry. The colonel himself was overcome by the unpleasant
novelty of the sensation. As he was not accustomed to think except on
professional matters connected with the welfare of men and horses and
the proper use thereof on the field of glory, his intellectual efforts
degenerated into mere mental repetitions of profane language. "_Mille
tonerres!... Sacre nom de nom..._" he thought.
Lieutenant D'Hubert coughed painfully and went on, in a weary voice:
"There will be plenty of evil tongues to say that I've been cowed. And
I am sure you will not expect me to pass that sort of thing over. I may
find myself suddenly with a dozen duels on my hands instead of this one
affair.
Pages:
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53