"To my horror four shots exploded before I could recover
sufficient self-possession to loosen my hold of the butt. He fell
without a word. I dropped the revolver and knelt by his side. I
could tell he was dangerously wounded, and indeed I knew at that
moment that nothing would save him. My pistol had been pointed in
the region of his heart . . . . "

He shuddered, dropping his face in his hands, and the girl by his
side, encircling his shoulder with a protecting arm, murmured
something in his ear. Presently he recovered.

"He wasn't quite dead. I heard him murmur something but I wasn't
able to distinguish what he said. I went straight to the village
and told the constable and had the body removed."

T. X. rose from the table and walked to the door and opened it.

"Come in, constable," he said, and when the man made his
appearance, "I suppose you were very careful in removing this
body, and you took everything which was lying about in the
immediate ate vicinity'?"

"Yes, sir," replied the man, "I took his hat and his walkingstick,
if that's what you mean."

"And the revolver!" asked T. X.

The man shook his head.

"There warn't any revolver, sir, except the pistol which Mr.