CHAPTER XIX
INTO THE LAKE.
A curl of white smoke was rising above some water reeds, plainly showing where the gun had been fired.
Hodge held up his hand, and there was blood on his wrist. He wiped it away, and then picked a shot from under the skin.
Frank had felt several shot strike his clothes, but evidently they were too far spent to penetrate far.
“Of all infernal carelessness!” grated Hodge, his face dark with anger. “I never heard of anything like it.”
“It could not have been carelessness!” cried Frank. “Here we are in plain view out in the open water. The person who fired that shot must have seen us. If it was carelessness, it was criminal.”
“Are you hit, Merry?”
“Some of the shot struck my clothes, but none of them reached my body, I think. How much are you hurt, Bart?”
“Not much, but I’m mad enough to thump the chump who fired that shot! I’d like the job!”