And he drew out the ramrod and rattled it down one of the barrels.
“Why, there is a load in it!” he cried; “although there isn’t any cap on. I’d like to know what this means, and why Susan took Old Bruden, anyway. Just you take this gun and carry it carefully back up-stairs and put it where you found it. You needn’t be afraid of it, for it can’t go off; it isn’t capped. And then go to the kitchen, and as soon as Susan comes in tell her I want to see her.”
When Susan made her appearance in the hall, where Philip was walking up and down, her countenance wore a very stern expression.
“Is anything the matter?” she said, shortly.
“Yes, there is a good deal the matter,” said Philip. “In the first place, do you know where my uncle’s double-barrelled gun is?”
To this question Susan made no immediate answer, but, with a cloth she held in her hand, she began to dust the hall-table.
“Haven’t you seen it?” repeated Philip.
“You’ve got a gun of your own,” said Susan, without turning around. “Isn’t that enough for you?”
“That is not the question. I want to know where Old Bruden is.”
“I don’t believe in boys having double-barrelled guns,” said Susan, “or any guns at all, for that matter.”