V.

"The rest of the lesson may be summed up in a convenient formula. For

so far as I know, there is only one really useful tip that a professor

can give to the uninstructed novice who says:--'This afternoon or

to-morrow morning I have to go out.'

"The professor will make a great mistake if he attempts to teach

him some fancy stroke, for he will only disturb the natural working

of his instinct, without controlling it. He must remember that the

excitement of fighting does not leave much room for thought, and he

must accordingly take care to limit his instruction to the simplest and

clearest ideas, easy to understand and easy to put into practice, such

as arise naturally out of the instinctive sense of self-preservation.

"These remarks of course do not apply to those dull and inert

creatures, cursed with a temperament so heavy, and so sluggish, that

they do not know what it is to move briskly and can never rise to the

occasion. You can put nothing into such as these and can get nothing

out of them.

"When swords are crossed, the thing to do is simply what our friend

here did just now:--Retire. I say 'retire' in order to avoid saying

'run away.' Retire always, retire incessantly, but retire little by

little, so as not to consume once and for all the entire _hinterland_;

retire in short, not like a man in a panic, but like one who is

watching his opportunity.

"Never forget this,--the only principle that at the critical moment

is available for him who cannot count on science to assist him:--_Get

back and straighten the arm_;--or in other words:--_Defend yourself by

threatening your opponent_. Never attack; that is the point on which

your attention must be concentrated."

"But," exclaimed one of my hearers, "what do you mean by 'threatening?'

It is not so easy to threaten when you are an absolute duffer."