Then The Duelists Took Position Again; A Small Stream Of
Blood Was Flowing Down The Side Of The Injured Man's Head,
And Over His Shoulder And Down His Body To The Floor,
But He Did Not Seem To Mind This.
The word was given,
and they plunged at each other as fiercely as before;
once more the blows rained
And rattled and flashed;
every few moments the quick-eyed seconds would notice
that a sword was bent - then they called "Halt!" struck up
the contending weapons, and an assisting student straightened
the bent one.
The wonderful turmoil went on - presently a bright spark
sprung from a blade, and that blade broken in several pieces,
sent one of its fragments flying to the ceiling.
A new sword was provided and the fight proceeded.
The exercise was tremendous, of course, and in time
the fighters began to show great fatigue. They were
allowed to rest a moment, every little while; they got
other rests by wounding each other, for then they could
sit down while the doctor applied the lint and bandages.
The laws is that the battle must continue fifteen minutes
if the men can hold out; and as the pauses do not count,
this duel was protracted to twenty or thirty minutes,
I judged. At last it was decided that the men were too much
wearied to do battle longer. They were led away drenched
with crimson from head to foot. That was a good fight,
but it could not count, partly because it did not last
the lawful fifteen minutes (of actual fighting), and
partly because neither man was disabled by his wound.
It was a drawn battle, and corps law requires that drawn
battles shall be refought as soon as the adversaries are
well of their hurts.
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