 challenging him to a duel.Martin decided that "it better not to fight him, without first attempting to deliver himself from such a desperate enemy, by bringing him to public justice" since Hodge was known to be an excellent pistol shot and duellist.This may have started a chain of events that ultimately led to Hodge being arrested and tried for Prosper's death – not in the pursuit of justice after an atrocity, but because one man was afraid to duel against another.