“I thought you were going to bungle it,” said Randall. “What was the matter?”
“Front sight caught at the edge of my sleeve. I had to tear it loose by main strength. I’m going to file it off. What’s the use of a front sight at close range?”
I heaved a deep sigh.
“Well, I don’t want ever to be so scared again,” I confessed. “Will you tell me, by all that’s holy, why you turned your back on the door?”
“Well,” said Johnny seriously, “I wanted to get him close to me. If I had shown him that I’d seen him when he first came in the door, he’d have opened fire at once. And I’m a rotten shot. But I figured that if he thought I didn’t see him, he’d come across the room to me.”
“But he nearly got you by surprise.”
“Oh, no,” said Johnny; “I saw him all the time. I 290 got his reflection from the glass over that picture of the beautiful lady sitting on the Old Crow Whiskey barrel. That’s why I picked out that table.”
“My son,” cried Danny Randall delightedly, “you’re a true sport. You’ve got a head, you have!”
“Well,” said Johnny, “I figured I’d have to do something; I’m such a rotten shot.”