They distrusted my skill in the management of the weapon I had chosen; for reasons of their own they carried a case of pistols to the field.

Prince Otto was attended by Count Loepel and a Major Edelsheim of his army, fresh from the garrison fortress of Mainz, gentlemen perfectly conversant with the laws of the game, which my worthy comrades were not.

Several minutes were spent in an altercation between Edelsheim and Bandelmeyer.

The major might have had an affair of his own had he pleased.

My feelings were concentrated within the immediate ring where I stood: I can compare them only to those of a gambler determined to throw his largest stake and abide the issue.