"But who can have done such a thing?" cried the young man.
"I have not the slightest idea, unless it was some wandering Indian, but I am quite sure it was not an accident. I saw the first shot strike the water close to the canoe. It came from some woods on the left bank, and I cried out to warn the shooter whom I could not see. It was about four minutes after when the second shot was fired, and the bullet hit the shaft of the paddle, so that it broke on my next stroke, and I was left at the mercy of the river."
"And no more shots were fired?"
"None!"
Stane sat there with a very thoughtful look upon his face; and after a moment Miss Yardely spoke again.
"What do you think, Mr. Stane?"
He shook his head. "I do not know what to think, Miss Yardely," he said slowly, "but it looks as if the thing had been done deliberately."
"You mean that some one tried to kill me?"
"No, not that," was the reply. "You would offer too fair a mark for any one accustomed to handling a rifle to miss. I mean that there was a deliberate attempt to set you adrift in the canoe. The first shot, you say, struck the water near you, the second smashed your paddle, and after that there was no more firing. Why? The only answer is that the shooter had accomplished his object."
"It certainly has that appearance," answered the girl. "But why should any one do a thing like that?"