“I did not hit it! Who says that I hit it?”
Clifford started up, leaning on his arm. In an instant Nell recovered enough of her self-possession to tell him to lie down again. But her voice shook. Hemming spoke in a very gentle and apologetic tone as he went on with his interrogatory:
“Is this the pistol you used, Miss?”
He produced from one of his pockets the old cavalry pistol which he had brought from Shingle End.
“Yes,” replied Nell, not heeding Clifford’s attempts to bring the examination to an end, “that is the one.”
“Do you remember what happened when you had all seen it, and it was done with?”
“Yes. The colonel reloaded it—”
She stopped short and looked down.
“You are sure that he reloaded it?”
“Yes. He reloaded it, and hung it upon the nail again.”