“‘Don’t force me to do you a mischief,’ said he. ‘Don’t,’ says he; ‘we might both be sorry for it. What you’re thinkin’ of brings no blessin’.’
“I was past seein’ or hearin’. A thousand devils from hell possessed me.
“‘Halves!’ I screeched out; and, as I said the word, he sprang out of the saddle, and fell back over his horse’s crupper to the ground.
“‘I’m a dead man!’ cried he, as well as the rattle in his throat would let him. ‘God be merciful to me! My poor wife, my poor children!’”
Bob paused; he gasped for breath, and the sweat stood in large drops upon his forehead. He gazed wildly round the room. The judge himself looked very pale. I tried to rise, but sank back in my chair. Without the table, I believe I should have fallen to the ground.
There was a gloomy pause of some moments’ duration. At last the judge broke silence.
“A hard, hard case!” said he. “Father, mother, children, all at one blow. Bob, you are a bad fellow; a very bad fellow; a great villain!”
“A great villain,” groaned Bob. “The ball was gone right through his breast.”
“Perhaps your gun went off by accident,” said the judge, anxiously. “Perhaps it was his own ball.”