The second must be an expert swordsman, or he would not only run great danger himself, but be unable to give to his combatant the necessary protection. This office, as already stated, falls to the second _Chargirter_. He must exert all his skill to protect his combatant as much as possible, without holding his second-cudgel so as to prevent the blows of the antagonist reaching him. He must take heed that the opponent does not present his sword so horizontally that his combatant in rushing forward shall run upon its point. We have stated that it is a disgrace to the duellist if, before the round is ended, he goes backwards off the measure. This the student calls to "nip," or to "nip out," and says "he is nipped." A laughable circumstance of this kind once took place in Göttingen.
A little Jew had a quarrel with a renowned Schläger, or duellist, of great stature, who had maltreated the little Hebrew. When they stood upon the measure, the little fellow who had never before entered this arena, awaited with wrathful impatience the word "loose," and made a spring in the moment, whereby he gave the opponent a tremendous _quarte_ in the face, crying, "There, thou'st got something!" The tall fellow, who expected nothing so sudden, was horribly enraged at this inroad upon the honour of his swordsmanship, and so much the more as every one laughed heartily at the droll occurrence. Spite of all outcries and commands to "halt," the student pursued the Jew with terrible strokes, so that he, unable to maintain his ground, stepped continually backwards till he at length actually took refuge behind the stove. The seconds were seized with such a paroxysm of laughter at this scene, that they were unable sooner to run to the aid of the little Jew, and then first placed themselves as a wall between the stove and the enraged swordsman.
When a round is ended, the seconds and the witnesses, who come to their aid, often contend the point, whether an after-blow was made or not, whether one or other of the seconds forwarded, that is, exceeded his duty in protecting his protégé to the prejudice of the opponent or not; which last act, if often repeated, entitles the other second to demand that he be dismissed from his post. But most frequently of all, the dispute is, whether the blow took or not. All these points of dispute have to be referred to the umpire, against whose decision there is no appeal. When the single round is fought, the seconds do not stand at the left side, but so that they make a cross with the duellers, as here that frequent springing in between them is not necessary. So goes the duel forward till terminated in one of the aforesaid ways. In the mean time the doctor has, from the very commencement of the fight, had his bandages in readiness, his needles threaded, and water set at hand, prepared at a moment with a skilful hand to afford assistance to the wounded.