Suddenly Ogareff utters a cry: "He sees! He sees!"
"Yes, I see. Thinking of my mother, the tears which sprang to my eyes
saved my sight. I see the mark of the knout which I gave you, traitor
and coward! I see the place where I am about to strike you! Defend your
life! It is a duel I offer you! My knife against your sword!" The
tears, which his pride in vain endeavored to subdue, welling up from his
heart, had gathered under his eyelids, and volatilized on the cornea,
and the vapor formed by his tears interposing between the glowing saber
and his eyeballs had been sufficient to annihilate the action of the
heat and save his sight. Ogareff now feels that he is lost, but
mustering up all his courage he springs forward. The two blades cross,
but at a touch from Michael's knife the sword flies in splinters, and
the wretch, stabbed to the heart, falls lifeless to the ground. The
crash of the steel attracting the attention of the ducal train, the door
is thrown open, and the Grand Duke, accompanied by some of his officers,
enters.
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