"Yes, yes, my dear fellow," he said, and patted the terrible enemy's
shoulder, "I tell you it's a dog's life. If you can avoid it any
way--never go in for fast living."

The old gentleman shook his gray head sadly.

"That's all over," he declared, "but twenty years ago--"
Niebeldingk cut short the approaching confidences.

"Well, what's going to happen now?" he asked. "And what will your
sister do when you come home and announce my refusal?"

"I'll tell you, Baron. In fact, my sister required that I _should_
tell you, because that is to--" he giggled--"that is to have a
profound effect. We've got a nephew, I must tell you, who's a
lieutenant in the army. Well, he is to come at once and challenge you
to a duel.... Well, now, a duel is always a pretty nasty piece of
business. First, there's the scandal, and then, one _might_ get hurt.
And so my sister thought that you'd rather----"

"Hold on, my excellent friend," said Niebeldingk and a great weight
rolled from his heart. "You have an officer in your family? That's
splendid ... I couldn't ask anything better ... You wire him at once
and tell him that I'll be at home three days running and ready to give
him the desired explanations. I'm sorry for the poor fellow for being
mixed up in such a stupid mess, but I can't help him."

"Why do you feel sorry for him?" the old gentleman asked. "He's as
good a marksman as you are."