And he knew how to make these peculiarities count.

He fought for a while with a calm and steady precision that repeatedly baffled the calculated impetuosity of Cleggett's attack.

But the air of bantering certainty with which he had begun the duel had left him.

He no longer wasted his breath on repartee; no doubt he was surprised to find Cleggett's strength so nearly equal to his own, as Cleggett had been astonished to find in Loge so much finesse.

But with a second slight wound Loge began to give ground.
With Cleggett a bout with the foils had always been a duel.