"Aha! You are improving very fast, my friend." He still laughed,
though not so well pleased, when he was hit in the second bout.
After that he settled down to fight in earnest with the result that
Andre-Louis was hit three times in succession. The speed and
accuracy of the fencing-master when fully exerting himself
disconcerted Andre-Louis' theory, which for want of being exercised
in practice still demanded too much consideration.
But that his theory was sound he accounted fully established, and
with that, for the moment, he was content. It remained only to
perfect by practice the application of it. To this he now devoted
himself with the passionate enthusiasm of the discoverer. He
confined himself to a half-dozen combinations, which he practised
assiduously until each had become almost automatic. And he proved
their infallibility upon the best among M. des Amis' pupils.
Finally, a week or so after that last bout of his with des Amis,
the master called him once more to practice.
Hit again in the first bout, the master set himself to exert all
his skill against his assistant.
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