"Stand back!" she cried.
He jumped at her, and she pulled the trigger, but nothing happened, and the next minute she was struggling in his arms. The man was hysterical with fear and relief and was giggling and cursing in the same breath. He wrenched the pistol from her hand and threw it on the table.
"You fool! You fool!" he shouted, "the safety-catch! You didn't put it down!"
She could have wept with anger and mortification. Beale had put the catch of the weapon at safety, not realizing that she did not understand the mechanism of it, and van Heerden in one lightning glance had seen his advantage.
"Now you suffer!" he said, as he flung her in a chair. "You shall suffer, I tell you! I will make an example of you. I will leave your husband something which he will not touch!"
He was shaking in every limb. He dashed to the door and bellowed "Bridgers!"
Presently she heard a footstep in the hall.
"Come, my friend," van Heerden shouted, "you shall have your wish. It is——"
"How are you going, van Heerden? Quietly or rough?"
He spun round. There were two men in the doorway, and the first of these was Beale.