We were all petrified.
“Mr. Pechorin,” he added, “take a card and throw it up in the air.”
I took, as I remember now, an ace of hearts off the table and threw it into the air. All held their breath. With eyes full of terror and a certain vague curiosity they glanced rapidly from the pistol to the fateful ace, which slowly descended, quivering in the air. At the moment it touched the table Vulich pulled the trigger... a flash in the pan!
“Thank God!” many exclaimed. “It wasn’t loaded!”
“Let us see, though,” said Vulich.
He cocked the pistol again, and took aim at a forage-cap which was hanging above the window. A shot rang out. Smoke filled the room; when it cleared away, the forage-cap was taken down. It had been shot right through the centre, and the bullet was deeply embedded in the wall.
For two or three minutes no one was able to utter a word. Very quietly Vulich poured my ducats from the major’s purse into his own.
Discussions arose as to why the pistol had not gone off the first time. Some maintained that probably the pan had been obstructed; others whispered that the powder had been damp the first time, and that, afterwards, Vulich had sprinkled some fresh powder on it; but I maintained that the last supposition was wrong, because I had not once taken my eyes off the pistol.
“You are lucky at play!” I said to Vulich...
“For the first time in my life!” he answered, with a complacent smile. “It is better than ‘bank’ and ‘shtoss.’” [23]