two o’clock precisely
I am quite firm . '' `` Be it so , then , '' replied one of the officers ; `` and after all , you know , a sword-cut need not be a very serious affair . '' `` Certainly not , '' rejoined Servadac ; `` and especially in my case , when I have not the slightest intention of being wounded at all . '' Incredulous as they naturally were as to the assigned cause of the quarrel , Servadac 's friends had no alternative but to accept his explanation , and without farther parley they started for the staff office , where , at two o'clock precisely , they were to meet the seconds of Count Timascheff . Two hours later they had returned . All the preliminaries had been arranged ; the count , who like many Russians abroad was an aide-de-camp of the Czar , had of course proposed swords as the most appropriate weapons , and the duel was to take place on the following morning , the first of January , at nine o'clock , upon the cliff at a spot about a mile and a half from the mouth of the Shelif . With the assurance that they would not fail to keep their appointment with military punctuality , the two officers cordially wrung their friend 's hand and retired to the Zulma Cafe for a game at piquet .