All of this, save the concluding paragraph, was written under the eyes of Countess Anna of Lenkenstein.

He carried it to his quarters, where he appended the as he deemed it—­ conciliatory passage:  after which he handed it to Beppo, in a square of the barracks, with a buon’mano that Beppo received bowing, and tossed to an old decorated regimental dog of many wounds and a veteran’s gravity.  For this offence a Styrian grenadier seized him by the shoulders, lifting him off his feet and swinging him easily, while the dog arose from his contemplation of the coin and swayed an expectant tail.  The Styrian had dashed Beppo to earth before Weisspriess could interpose, and the dog had got him by the throat.  In the struggle Beppo tore off the dog’s medal for distinguished conduct on the field of battle.  He restored it as soon as he was free, and won unanimous plaudits from officers and soldiers for his kindly thoughtfulness and the pretty manner with which he dropped on one knee, and assuaged the growls, and attached the medal to the old dog’s neck.  Weisspriess walked away.  Beppo then challenged his Styrian to fight.  The case was laid before a couple of sergeants, who shook their heads on hearing his condition to be that of a serving-man, the Styrian was ready to waive considerations of superiority; but the “judge” pronounced their veto.  A soldier in the Imperial Royal service, though he was merely a private in the ranks, could not accept a challenge from civilians below the rank of notary, secretary, hotel- or inn-keeper, and suchlike:  servants and tradesmen he must seek to punish in some other way; and they also had their appeal to his commanding officer.  So went the decision of the military tribunal:  until the Styrian, having contrived to make Beppo understand, by the agency of a single Italian verb, that he wanted a blow, Beppo spun about and delivered a stinging smack on the Styrian’s cheek; which altered the view of the case, for, under peculiar circumstances—­supposing that he did not choose to cut him down—­a soldier might condescend to challenge his civilian inferiors:  “in our regiment,” said the sergeants, meaning that they had relaxed the stringency of their laws.

Beppo met his Styrian outside the city walls, and laid him flat.  He declined to fight a second; but it was represented to him, by the aid of an interpreter, that the officers of the garrison were subjected to successive challenges, and that the first trial of his skill might have been nothing finer than luck; and besides, his adversary had a right to call a champion.  “We all do it,” the soldiers assured him.  “Now your blood’s up you’re ready for a dozen of us;” which was less true of a constitution that was quicker in expending its heat.  He stood out against a young fellow almost as limber as himself, much taller, and longer in the reach, by whom he was quickly disabled with cuts on thigh and head.  Seeing this easy victory over him,