“You had no right to look for me, sir, whoever you may be! If I choose to seek quiet and privacy, no one is authorized to intrude upon me.”
“I am sure, sir, I was not trying to intrude upon you this time, although I admit I have been inquiring for you in various places. I came here for sport and recreation, and I suppose these woods are as free to me as to any one else.”
“Yes, they are,” said Mr. Berkeley, “but I did not think that any one but myself would penetrate to this secluded spot. How did you get over the stream down there? The bottom is very soft.”
“I found a fallen tree lying across it,” said Mr. Muller.
“You must have been very anxious to shoot snakes,” remarked the other. “That fallen tree is surrounded by a thicket that I did not suppose any one would care to penetrate.”
“I wished to explore the forest,” said Mr. Muller, “and so pushed on toward its centre. And the way I happen to have your gun with me is this: I found it, a few nights ago, in the bed where I was sleeping, and where the Touron boy hid it, after he attempted to shoot your nephew, Philip Berkeley.”
“You had no right to look for me, sir, whoever you may be!”
“What in the name of common sense are you talking about?” cried Mr. Berkeley. “Shoot my nephew! Are you crazy?”
“No, I am not crazy,” said Mr. Muller, very quietly, “and you need not alarm yourself. No one has been injured. If you will sit down here in the shade I will tell you the whole story. It is a long one, and I am rather tired.”