'You have got the packet for my father?' said poor Winkle. 'Of course,' said Mr Snodgrass. 'Be steady, and wing him.'

Mr Winkle thought that this advice was very like the advice which bystanders always give to the smallest boy in a street fight. 'Go in, and win' - an admirable thing to recommend, if you only know how to do it. However, he took off his cloak in silence - it always took a long time to undo that cloak - and accepted the pistol.

The seconds retired, the gentleman on the camp-stool did the same, and the belligerents walked up to each other.

Mr Winkle was always remarkable for his love of other human beings. It is thought that his unwillingness to hurt another person intentionally was the reason why he shut his eyes when he arrived at the fatal spot.

Because his eyes were closed, he did not see the very extraordinary and unexplainable behaviour of Doctor Slammer. That gentleman started, stared, retreated, rubbed his eyes, stared again, and finally, shouted, 'Stop, stop!'

'What's all this?' said Doctor Slammer, as his friend and Mr Snodgrass came running up; 'That's not the man.'