What she saw there was enough to bring her heart into her throat. There was a moment of hesitation; then, swift as light, Ruth darted to the kitchen door.
At the slight sound she made the stooped figure of the man at the hearth straightened quickly. With a venomous look at Ruth and a muttered word he darted straight for her as she still stood in the doorway.
Hardly knowing what she did, conscious only of her necessity of stopping the rascal, Ruth stepped back, and as he passed her with a snarl of rage, put out her foot to trip him.
He came down heavily, for he was a large man, and lay inert, stretched out on his face.
CHAPTER XXI
DRAMA
Alarmed by the commotion, Mary and Ellen Chase came running from the inner room.
Ellen was trembling violently, the picture of terror. But Mary’s chin was up and in her hand she carried her father’s old shotgun!
“What is it, Miss Fielding? Oh, what has happened? What have you done?”
“I don’t know,” said Ruth, trembling herself now with the reaction and the fear that she had injured the intruder more severely than she had intended. “This man was trying to pry up a stone of your hearth, Mary, and when he attempted to escape I tripped him up. Come and help me turn him over and see how badly he’s hurt.”
“Is—do you suppose—he’s dead?” asked Mary hesitantly, as she started to obey.