'I have nothing to say either' said Mr Snodgrass, who was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable about everything.

'Shall we begin?' said the officer.

'Certainly,' replied Mr Snodgrass. They measured the distance between the two duellists and made the other arrangements for starting the duel. 'You will find that these pistols are better than your own,' said the officer, showing Snodgrass his pistols. 'You saw me load them. Shall we use these?'

'Yes, of course,' replied Mr Snodgrass. He was actually very pleased by the suggestion, because otherwise the officer would have seen that he actually had hardly any idea how to start loading a gun.

'We may put the duellists into position, I think,' said the officer. He sounded as casual as if the duellists were chessmen, and he and Snodgrass were the players.

'I think we may,' replied Mr Snodgrass; who would have agreed to anything, because he knew nothing about what he should be doing. The officer went over to Doctor Slammer, and Mr Snodgrass went up to Mr Winkle. 'It's all ready,' he said, giving him the pistol. 'Give me your cloak.'