He saw he had made a blunder, so he hastened to explain it away.

He said he had spoken jestingly.

Then he added that he and his principal would enjoy axes, and indeed prefer them, but such weapons were barred by the French code, and so I must change my proposal.
I walked the floor, turning the thing over in my mind, and finally it occurred to me that Gatling-guns at fifteen paces would be a likely way to get a verdict on the field of honor.

So I framed this idea into a proposition.
But it was not accepted.

The code was in the way again.