Off on a Comet

induce me to sur

in such a matter your vi

hat my seniority unquestiona

ir of this kind, cannot possibly enti

is left but for me to compel yo

word nor pistol can force me to fore

d m

nd by the formal interchange of the names of th

Hector S

ficer, M

her was t

ssili Ti

he Schoone

aptain and the count were on the point of parting from each other, with a salute of punctilious courtesy, when Timascheff, as if

“it is undesirable in every wa

tensible pretext of some kind. Shall we allege a musical dispute? a contention in w

Servadac, with a smile; and w

erranean, as they softly kissed the strand, were tinged with the reddish hue of the ferriferous rocks that formed its base. It was the 31st of December. The noontide sun, which usually illuminated the various projections of the coast with a dazzling brightness, was hi

took his seat in the stern of a light four-oar that had been awaiting his return; this was immediately pus

s attendant, well mounted as himself, started off towards Mostaganem. It was half-past twelve when the two riders crossed the bridge that had been recently erected over the Shelif,

ll-sheltered harbor, which enabled her to utilize all the rich products of the Mina and the Lower Shelif. It was the existence of so good a harbor amidst the exposed cliffs of this coast that had induced the owner of the Dobryna to winter in

officers listened gravely enough to Servadac’s request that they would act as his seconds in an affair of honor, but could not resist a smile on hearing that the dispute between him and the count had originated in a musical discus

s been deeply injured, and I cannot suffer the injury to be unav

icers; “and after all, you know, a sword

pecially in my case, when I have not the sl

d returned. All the preliminaries had been arranged; the count, who like many Russians abroad was an aide-de-camp of the Czar, had of course proposed swords as the most appropriate weapons, and the duel was to take place on the following morning, the first of January, at nine o’clock, upon the cliff at a spot abo

l levy, he had been living in a gourbi, or native hut, on the Mostaganem coast, between four and five miles from the Shelif. His orderly

vated, and whom he was anxious to marry, and the tenor of his muse was intended to prove that when once a man has found an object in all respects worthy of his affections, he should love her “in all simplicity.” Whether the aphorism were universally true was not very material to the gall

tell her that I love her sincerely, and wish to marry her; but, confound it! the wor

ould, whoe

all simp

m I to go on? I say,

who was trotting silen

er compose

ever made any verses, but I have seen them made fas

remembe

e sure I can. This i

e money you have spent; The wondrous mirror in t

in disgust; “your verse

s, captain, squeaked

id Servadac peremptorily; “

ould, whoe

all si

loving

myself t

his farther efforts were unavailing, and when at six o’clock he reached the gou