My gun was of course empty, but when he first caught sight of me I was kneeling in a very business-like attitude, with the weapon levelled. He looked straight down the barrels of it. He stopped, and I saw him fumbling with the trigger of his own.
"Have a care, Mr. Scoffold," I said quietly. "I have you covered."
"What are you doing there?" he stammered.
"I'll tell you presently," I answered him, still keeping my gun raised. "Now, reverse that gun of yours; come a little nearer. That's it; now lay it on the grass. Go back a pace or two; now stand still. And remember that if you play any tricks I'm in a mood to blow your brains out. I shall shoot you through the head, Mr. Harvey Scoffold—not through the arm."
By this time he was standing some paces away, his arms hanging by his sides. I got up, and stepped forward to where his gun lay, and picked it up. I dropped my own behind me. "Perhaps you'd like to know," I said, after I had made sure that the gun I had taken from him was loaded, "that my own weapon was unloaded. The doctor had both barrels."
I heard him mutter something under his breath, and I guessed pretty accurately what it was. He kept his eyes on me, evidently watching for a way of escape; he shifted his feet uneasily, as he stood there covered by his own gun.
"Now, Harvey Scoffold, I'll have a little explanation with you before I go up to the house," I said. "You were in the plot to murder this young girl. Be careful how you answer me, for my temper is such at this moment that my fingers itch for this trigger."
"My dear fellow—I do assure you——" he began; but at the look in my eyes he hung his head, and blurted out the truth.
"What could I do?" he muttered. "I did my best to stop it—to persuade the doctor to abandon the idea. I only came out this morning because I thought—because I hoped I might be able to prevent it."
"You are lying, Harvey Scoffold," I told him. "I have been here both last night and since early this morning; I have seen everything, and heard a great deal. You were in the plot; you were to hold the attention of the girl while murder was done. If I had not been here she would be lying dead now."