In his haste he missed, and the figure, turning, raised a rifle.

There was a fair moonlight and Robert saw the muzzle of the weapon bearing directly upon him, and he knew too that the rifle was held by firm hands.

His vivid and sensitive imagination at once leaped into intense life.

His own weapon was empty and his last moment had come.

He saw the strong brown hands holding the rifle, and then his gaze passed on to the face of St.Luc.He saw the blue eyes of the Frenchman, as they looked down the sights, open wide in a kind of horror.