410 POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OP
" A blow, Sir ?" stammered Mr. Winkle.
" A blow, Sir," replied Dowler. " Compose your feelings. Sit down. Hear me."
" Sir," said Mr. Winkle, trembling from head to foot, " before I con- sent to sit down beside, or opposite you, without the presence of a waiter, I must be secured by some further understanding. You used a threat against me last night, Sir— a dreadful threat. Sir." Here Mr. Winkle turned very pale indeed, and stopped short.
" I did," said Dowler, with a countenance almost as white as Mr. Winkle*s. " Circumstances were suspicious. They have been ex- plained. I respect your bravery. Your feeling is upright. Conscious innocence. There's my hand. Grasp it."
" Really Sir," said Mr. Winkle, hesitating whether to give his hand or not, and almost fearing that it was demanded in order that he might
be taken at an advantage, " really Sir, I "
" I know what you mean/' interposed Dowler. ** You feel aggrieved. Very natural. So should I. I was wrong. I beg your pardon. Be friendly. Forgive me." With this, Dowler fairly forced his hand upon Mr. Winkle, and shaking it with the utmost vehemence, declared he was a fellow of extreme spirit, and he had a higher opinion of him than ever. " Now," said Dowler, " sit down. Relate it all. How did you find me? When did you follow ? Be frank. Tell me."
- • It's quite accidental," replied Mr. Winkle, greatly perplexed by the
curious and unexpected nature of the interview, " Quite."
" Glad of it," said Dowler. " I woke this morning. I had forgotten my threat. I laughed at the accident. I felt friendly. I said so."
" To whom ?" inquired Mr. Winkle. ' To Mrs. Dowler. * You made a vow,* said she. ' I did,* s?id I.
- It was a rash one,' said she. * It was,' said I. * I'll apologise. WhereJ
is he?'"
« Who ?" inquired Mr. Winkle. " You," replied Dowler. " I went down stairs. You were not to be| found. Pickwick looked gloomy. Shook his head. Hoped no violence! would be committed. I saw it all. You felt yourself insulted. Youj had gone, for a friend perhaps. Possibly for pistols. * High spirit,* said} I. * I admire him.' "
Mr. Winkle coughed, and beginning to see how the land lay, assumed! a look of importance.
" I left a note for you," resumed Dowler. *' I said I was sorry. So I was. Pressing business called me here. You were not satisfied. You followed. You required a verbal explanation. You were right. It's all over now. My business is finished. I go back to-morrow. Join me."
As Dowler progressed in his explanation, Mr. Winkle's countenance grew more and more dignified. The mysterious nature of the com- mencement of their conversation was explained ; Mr. Dowler had as great an objection to duelling as himself; in short, this blustering and awful personage was one of the most egregious cowards in existence, and interpreting Mr. Winkle's absence through the medium of his own
