In which the solemn preparations and spectatorship of a duel at the famous Fifteen Acres unfold with a mixture of solemnity and uneasy humour, as the reluctant combatants are beset by misfortunes and the poignant presence of a well-meaning but ineffectual priest. The suffering of Lieutenant O'Flaherty, complicated by a mysterious affliction and the anxious attentions of his companions, casts a shadow over the grim ceremony and its fraught atmosphere of honour and dread.