"'Keep thy holy words for thine own comfort, thou boasting, short-lived fool; but methinks I will cut still shorter thy puny span with this,' and as he spoke he held aloft the glittering blade.
"'You speak that of which you know nothing, Perodii. My span of life is now as long as yours; for know you not that I have passed through holy rites that have endowed me with a fuller measure of years? But we waste time in profitless talk. Come, put up your sword, and defend yourself----'
"'Hold! I see Echri's ring upon thy finger. Come, fight fairly. Take off that cursed relic. We want none of Echri's magic here.'
"'Coward! then you fear its virtues now! Well, I have no wish to take advantage of you. Here, Sandy, hold this ring, and take care of it well. I would not lose it for a world'; and so saying, I slipped the precious talisman from my finger, and turned to give it to Sandy.
"That moment nearly proved fatal to me; for, without warning, Perodii rushed forward and made a terrible thrust at my unguarded body. But Sandy was too quick for him, and putting out his foot, he threw the Prince headlong.
"'Na, na, Mr. Perodii, none o' that here. Ye've got to fight fair and square, and not tak' a mon unawares.'
"'Coward!' I shouted. 'Get up and defend yourself, or my indignation may prompt me to slay you where you are.'
"But Perodii, without another word, jumped to his feet again and attacked me with fury. Our swords flashed like silver in the sunlight as we parried each other's blows and thrusts, Perodii trying his best to strike me, I acting on the defensive, having decided to bide my time until the first frenzy of his attack was spent. Not a sound was heard save the clashing of swords, and our deep-drawn breaths. Then Perodii, in one of his mad onslaughts, slipped and nearly fell, but recovered himself before I had time to drive in a blow; yet a thrilling sigh of excitement burst from the crowd, who thought that all was over. Again we drew back, panting for breath, and burning with desire to slay each other. Again with eyes sparkling in anger we closed, and once more the flashing, clanging swords sang the song of our hatred. Perodii was skilled in the use of his weapon, and fought hard, but I think his courage was only the outcome of his deadly hate, which had worked him up into an uncontrollable rage. At last I clumsily gave him his chance, and was too late completely to parry one of his fierce strokes. His blade glanced off my own, and inflicted a deep, stinging cut in my arm. Amidst my pain I heard cries of concern from the Doctor and Temple, as each jumped to their feet; but the King sat calmly looking on. Then we drew back and stood panting until Sandy had deftly and quickly bound up my wound, saying: