And never was there
a season in which fencing-academies knew such prosperity as in these
troubled days, when every man was sharpening his sword and schooling
himself in the uses of it.
It was not until a couple of weeks later that Andre-Louis realized
what had really happened to him, and he found himself at the same
time an exhausted man, for during that fortnight he had been doing
the work of two. If he had not hit upon the happy expedient of
pairing-off his more advanced pupils to fence with each other,
himself standing by to criticize, correct and otherwise instruct,
he must have found the task utterly beyond his strength. Even so,
it was necessary for him to fence some six hours daily, and every
day he brought arrears of lassitude from yesterday until he was in
danger of succumbing under the increasing burden of fatigue. In
the end he took an assistant to deal with beginners, who gave the
hardest work. He found him readily enough by good fortune in one
of his own pupils named Le Duc. As the summer advanced, and the
concourse of pupils steadily increased, it became necessary for him
to take yet another assistant - an able young instructor named
Galoche - and another room on the floor above.
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