The seconds at once tossed up a coin; Howard won the choice.  He placed the judge sixty feet from the haunted house and facing it; Wilson placed the twins within fifteen feet of the house and facing the judge —­necessarily.  The pistol-case was opened and the long slim tubes taken out; when the moonlight glinted from them a shiver went through Angelo.  The doctor was a fool, but a thoroughly well-meaning one, with a kind heart and a sincere disposition to oblige, but along with it an absence of tact which often hurt its effectiveness.  He brought his box of lint and bandages, and asked Angelo to feel and see how soft and comfortable they were.  Angelo’s head fell over against Luigi’s in a faint, and precious time was lost in bringing him to; which provoked Luigi into expressing his mind to the doctor with a good deal of vigor and frankness.  After Angelo came to he was still so weak that Luigi was obliged to drink a stiff horn of brandy to brace him up.

The seconds now stepped at once to their posts, halfway between the combatants, one of them on each side of the line of fire.  Wilson was to count, very deliberately, “One-two-three-fire!—­stop!” and the duelists could bang away at any time they chose during that recitation, but not after the last word.  Angelo grew very nervous when he saw Wilson’s hand rising slowly into the air as a sign to make ready, and he leaned his head against Luigi’s and said: 

“Oh, please take me away from here, I can’t stay, I know I can’t!”

“What in the world are you doing?  Straighten up!  What’s the matter with you?—­you’re in no danger—­nobody’s going to shoot at you.  Straighten up, I tell you!”

Angelo obeyed, just in time to hear: 

“One—!”

“Bang!” Just one report, and a little tuft of white hair floated slowly to the judge’s feet in the moonlight.  The judge did not swerve; he still stood erect and motionless, like a statue, with his pistol-arm hanging straight down at his side.  He was reserving his fire.

“Two—!”

“Three—­“!

“Fire—!”

Up came the pistol-arm instantly-Angelo dodged with the report.  He said “Ouch!” and fainted again.

The doctor examined and bandaged the wound.

It was of no consequence, he said—­bullet through fleshy part of arm—­no bones broken the gentleman was still able to fight let the duel proceed.

Next time Angelo jumped just as Luigi fired, which disordered his aim and caused him to cut a chip off of Howard’s ear.  The judge took his time again, and when he fired Angelo jumped and got a knuckle skinned.  The doctor inspected and dressed the wounds.  Angelo now spoke out and said he was content with the satisfaction he had got, and if the judge—­but Luigi shut him roughly up, and asked him not to make an ass of himself; adding: