"Well, I will. We came here to fight a duel, didn't we?"

"Yes, sir."

"You admit that?"

"I do, sir."

"That is all that's needed."

"How? Why? I don't understand."

"Duels are not countenanced in the North, and nothing would cause a
fellow to be fired from Yale quicker than the knowledge that he had had
anything to do with one while here. Do you twig?"

There was a moment of silence and then a stir. A deep sigh of relief
came from the masked lads, and some of them showed an inclination to
cheer Merriwell.

Diamond seemed nonplused for the moment. He glared at Frank, his hands
clinched and his face pale.

At last he slowly said:

"A duel is something no gentleman can blow about, so if you are a
gentleman you will have to remain silent, sir."

"That's the way you Southerners look at it, but yon will excuse us