“Then if any blood is shed, on his head be it!” said Mr. Alston solemnly. “Come, let us get it over.”
Each took his man and placed him by one of the sticks, and then handed him a revolver.
“Stand sideways, and remember what I told you,” whispered Mr. Alston.
“Are you ready, gentlemen?” asked Captain Justice presently.
There was no answer; but Ernest felt his heart stand still, and a mist gathered before his eyes. At that moment he heard a lark rise into the air near him and begin to sing. Unless he could get his sight back he felt that he was lost.
“One!” The mist cleared away from his eyes; he saw his adversary’s pistol-barrel pointing steadily at him.
“Two!” A ray broke from the rising sun, and caught a crystal pin Hugh Kershaw incautiously wore. Instinctively Ernest remembered Mr. Alston’s advice, and lowered the sight of his long barrel till it was dead on the crystal pin. Curiously enough, it reminded him at the moment of the eyes in the witch’s head at Dum’s Ness. His vital forces rose to the emergency, and his arm grew as steady as a rock. Then came a pause that seemed hours long.
“Three!” There was a double report, and Ernest became aware of a commotion in his hair. Hugh Kershaw flung up his arms wildly, sprang a few inches off the ground, and fell backwards. Great God, it was over!
