He accordingly entered the apartment of the captain, who had been waked by the trumpet, and now peevishly asked the meaning of that d--ned piping, as if all hands were called upon deck?
Clarke having imparted what he knew of the transaction, together with his own conjectures, the captain said, he did not suppose as how they would engage by candlelight; and that, for his own part, he should turn out in the larboard watch, long enough before any signals could be hove out for forming the line.
With this assurance the lawyer retired to his nest, where he did not fail to dream of Mrs.Dolly Cowslip, while Sir Launcelot passed the night awake, in ruminating on the strange challenge he had received.

He had got notice that the sender was Mr.Sycamore, and hesitated with himself whether he should not punish him for his impertinence; but when he reflected on the nature of the dispute, and the serious consequences it might produce, he resolved to decline the combat, as a trial of right and merit founded upon absurdity.

Even in his maddest hours, he never adopted those maxims of knight-errantry which related to challenges.

He always perceived the folly and wickedness of defying a man to mortal fight, because he did not like the colour of his beard, or the complexion of his mistress; or of deciding by homicide whether he or his rival deserved the preference, when it was the lady's prerogative to determine which should be the happy lover.

It was his opinion that chivalry was an useful institution while confined to its original purposes of protecting the innocent, assisting the friendless, and bringing the guilty to condign punishment.