CHAPTER IX.
THE DUEL.
Merriwell smiled and wiped the champagne from his face with a white silkhandkerchief. The proprietor bustled in and threatened. Diamond quiveredwith excitement.
"There will be no further trouble here," calmly said Frank. "This mattermust be settled between us--I could see that plainly enough. It wan justas well to bring it to a head at once."
"Lunder and thightning--I mean thunder and lightning!" panted Rattleton."He won't fight you again with his fists."
"I do not expect him to."
"You'll have to fight with rapiers, sure!" said another.
"Merriwell, you're a fool!"
"Thank you."
"You have fallen into his trap. He was making that talk to drive you todo just what you did."
"Well, he may congratulate himself on his success."
"Blamed if I understand you! You seem cool enough, and still you act asif you actually meant to meet him with deadly weapons."
"I shall meet him with any kind of weapons he may name."
Roll Ditson came forward.
"Of course you understand that I have no feeling, Merry, old man," hesaid; "but Diamond has chosen me as his second once more, and so I can'trefuse to serve him. It is a most unfortunate affair, but he insiststhat you fight him with rapiers."
"Very well; I agree to that. Arrange the time and place with my second,Mr. Rattleton."
Frank sat down, picked up an illustrated paper, and seemed deeplyinterested in the pictures.
Ditson drew Rattleton aside.
"My principal," said he, swelling with importance, "demands that thismeeting take place at once."
"Great Scott!" exploded Harry. "I object to this sort of business. It isoutrageous! If one of them should be seriously wounded, what excuse canbe made?"
"We'll find some excuse that will go."
"But what if one of them should be killed?"
"I hardly think anything as serious as that will occur."
"But should it, there would be an investigation, and expulsion anddisgrace, if nothing worse, would overtake us."
"Oh, well, if you are afraid, just go back and tell Mr. Merriwell toapologize here and now, and I think Mr. Diamond will let him off."
Harry looked at Merriwell and then shook his head.
"He'll never do that," he said, hoarsely. "We'll have to arrange thisduel. There is no other way for it."
Between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three blood runs hot and swift inthe veins of a youth. It is then that he will do many wild and recklessthings--things which will cause him to stand appalled when he considersthem in after years.
Frank believed that in order to retain his own self respect and therespect of his comrades he must meet Diamond and give him satisfactionin any manner he might designate.
But there was another reason why Frank was so willing to meet theVirginian. Merriwell was an expert fencer. At Fardale he had been thechampion of the school, and he had taken some lessons while traveling.He had thoroughly studied the trick of disarming his adversary, a trickwhich is known to every French fencing master, but is thought little ofby them.
He believed that he could repeatedly disarm Diamond.
His adventures in various parts of the world had made him somewhat lesscautious than he naturally would have been and so he trusted everythingto his ability to get the best of the Virginian.
Roland Ditson longed to force Merriwell to squeal. He did not fancyFrank knew anything of fencing, and he thought Merriwell would soon losehis nerve when he saw himself toyed with by Diamond.
And Diamond had promised not to seriously wound the fellow he hated.
The meeting was arranged as quietly as possible, and the freshmen whowere to witness it slipped out of Billy's by twos and threes and strodeaway.
Thirty minutes later, in a small, stuffy room, two lads, with theircoats and vests off and their sleeves turned back, faced each other,rapiers in hand.
"Ready, gentlemen!" called Ditson.
They made ready.
"On guard!"
The position was assumed.
Then came the command that set them at it.
In less than twenty seconds the spectators, who kept back as well aspossible, had seen something they never beheld before. They saw twobeardless lads fighting with deadly weapons and using skill that wasmarvelous.
It took Jack Diamond far less than twenty seconds to discover thatFrank Merriwell was a swordsman of astonishing skill. He had expected totoy with the Northerner, but he found himself engaged with one who metevery stroke like a professional.
A great feeling of relief came over Harry Rattleton.
"Whee jiz!" he muttered. "Merry is a cooler at it! I believe he'sDiamond's match!"
With Diamond astonishment gave way to fury. Was it possible that thisfellow was to get the best of him at everything? He fought savagely, andDitson turned white as a ghost when he saw the Virginian making madthrusts at the breast of the lad he hated.
"He's forgotten his promise--he's forgotten!" huskily whispered Ditson."What if he should run Merriwell through the body?"
Then came a cry of anger from Diamond and a cry of surprise and relieffrom the spectators.
Frank Merriwell, with that peculiar twisting movement of his wrist, hadtorn the rapier from the Virginian's hand.
The blade fell clanging to the floor, and Merriwell stepped back, withthe point of his rapier lowered.
Snarling savagely, Diamond made a catlike spring and snatched up theweapon he had lost.
"On guard!" he cried, madly. "The end is not yet! I'll kill you oryou'll kill me!"
There was a clash of steel, and then the fight was on with more furythan before.
Diamond was utterly reckless. He left a dozen openings where Frank couldhave run him through. But Merriwell was working to repeat the trick of afew seconds before.
The frightened spectators were beginning to think of intervening, whenonce again Diamond was disarmed.
At the same moment there came a heavy knocking at the door.
One fellow, who had been on guard, ran in from a corridor and cried:
"It's the faculty! Somebody has given them wind of this!"
"Here! here!" called a freshman. "Follow me!"
They did so, and he led them to a back window, out of which theyclambered.
Diamond was the last to get out, and just as he touched the groundsomebody came around the corner and grabbed him.
"I have one of them!" shouted a voice, which he recognized as belongingto one of the faculty.
He struggled to break away, but could not.
Then somebody dashed back to his side, caught hold of him, and withwonderful strength tore him from the grasp of the man.
"Run!" panted Frank Merriwell's voice in his ear.
And they ran away together, and in a short while were safe in theirrooms.
It turned out that it was not the faculty that had tried to get in wherethe duel was taking place, but some of the sophs. At the time he turnedback to rescue Diamond, however, Frank had believed the Virginian was inthe grasp of one of the professors.
Merriwell was regarded as more of a wonder than ever when it becamegenerally known that he had twice disarmed the Virginian in a duel withrapiers--or a "fencing contest," as the matter was openly spoken of bythose who discussed it.
But Bruce Browning, king of sophomores, was awaiting an opportunity toget at Frank.