I thought it was Borg; wondered what he
was prowling about for, and was on the verge of dropping off to sleep,
when, though I do not know what prompted me, I opened my eyes. Two
strange men were in the cabin. Both wore masks and fur caps with the
flaps pulled down, so that I could see nothing of their faces save the
glistening of the eyes through the eye-slits.
"I had no first thought, unless it was that danger threatened. I lay
quietly for a second and deliberated. Borg had borrowed my pistol, and
I was actually unarmed. My rifle was by the door. I decided to make a
rush for it. But no sooner had I struck the floor than one of the men
turned on me, at the same time firing his revolver. That was the first
shot, and the one La Flitche did not hear. It was in the struggle
afterwards that the door was burst open, which enabled him to hear the
last three.
"Well; I was so close to the man, and my leap out of the bunk was so
unexpected, that he missed me. The next moment we grappled and rolled
on the floor. Of course, Borg was aroused, and the second man turned
his attention to him and Bella. It was this second man who did the
killing, for my man, naturally, had his hands full. You heard the
testimony. From the way the cabin was wrecked, you can picture the
struggle. We rolled and tossed about and fought till stools, table,
shelves--everything was smashed.
Pages:
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315