"
"I will not be put down in this way, I will speak; I--I--"
"Silence, monsieur. I call upon you, explicitly, to moderate your tone
and pay proper deference to my authority." With this the commissary
pulled out a drawer, extracted a tricolour sash and slowly buckled it
round his waist, then once more turned interrogatively to the
sergeant:
"It is nothing very serious, M. le Commissaire," said the treacherous
gendarme. "A simple brawl--a blow struck, possibly returned--a mere
_rixe_."
"Between gentlemen? _Fi donc!_ Why the commonest _voyous_, the
_rodeurs_ of the _barriere_, could not do worse. It is not our French
way. Men of honour settle their disputes differently; they do not come
to the _police correctionnelle_."
"Pray do not think it is my desire," broke in the Colonel, with his
customary fierceness. "I have offered Lord Blackadder satisfaction as
a gentleman, and am ready to meet him when and how he pleases."
"I cannot listen to you, sir. Duels are in contravention of the Code.
But I recommend you to take your quarrels elsewhere, and not to waste
my time.
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