The answer was one which

It is nothing,” interrupted the girl in a shaking voice. I—I—feel a little faint. If you will excuse me—” She rose to her feet, staggered a little, and then, as Miss La Farge ran to her, fainted outright. For a moment Corporal Bracknell did not speak, though a look of utmost concern came upon his face. The situation seemed to him to be thronged with dreadful possibilities. Remembering the look on the girl’s face when he had encountered her in the forest road, and the rifle in her hand, he found in this faint further support for the suspicion which had occurred to him when he had stood by the supine body of Koona Dick. Living in the wilds, it was scarcely likely that the news of a dead man would affect her thus, if that news were without special significance for her. Death in the Northland—death sharp and sudden was not so uncommon as all that. Moving accidents by flood and field, by wild beasts and wild men, were part of the general circumstances of wilderness life; why, therefore, should the girl be thus affected by the news that he had uttered? Whilst Mr. Rayner assisted Miss La Farge to carry their hostess out of the room, he stood there, his mind occupied by this momentous question. The answer was one which took the form of a further question and which filled him with concern. Had she killed Koona Dick, with whom, as he was sure, she was acquainted　company formation hk? Again he saw the beautiful face, the picture of terror and the eyes in their unseeing stare of horror, and wondered what was the meaning of it all. Had the girl seen the body of Koona Dick lying there[18] in the shadow of the pines with his blood staining the snow, and was she merely frightened; or was her knowledge of a more intimate and guilty character? He could not decide, and whilst he was still wondering, the door of the room opened and Rayner entered. His face now was mask-like, and his voice was suave and even as he addressed the officer. I am afraid your story has been a shock to Miss Gargarve, who has not been very well all day. You will have to excuse her for this evening; but that is no reason why you should not finish your dinner, after which we might go out and look at this dead man. I suppose he will have to have sepulchre?” Even the worst of us should have that,” answered the corporal quietly, then added, Miss Gargrave—she is better?” Yes, it was only a faint. I expect she found it rather shocking to think that whilst we were sat here, that man was lying dead in the snow outside.” I can understand that,” answered the other in a non-committal voice　water sports . Mr. Rayner nodded. Feminine nerves are unstable things.” A second later he asked, Did I understand you to say that this man whom you were following was shot?” That is only a guess of mine,” was the reply. I found him lying there in the snow, and only a few minutes before I distinctly heard a rifle fire twice.” But,” objected Mr. Rayner, it does not follow that the shots you heard were directed against[19] this man Koona Dick? I myself fired at a timber-wolf on the outskirts of the homestead just a little while before your arrival.” Did you fire twice?” asked Corporal Bracknell quickly. N—no! Once!” There was a little hesitation before the reply was given. It was but the fraction of a second, but the policeman marked it, and suspected that the other had been a little uncertain as to what he ought to answer. But I heard two shots—one on the heels of the other,” answered Bracknell　stainless protank 4 . One may have been the echo,” suggested Rayner. Up here when it is still, sounds are easily duplicated.” No, it was not an echo,” asserted the corporal. I am quite sure of that. I have lived in the wilds too long to be deceived in a small matter of that sort. The second shot was as real as the first. And there is another thing I ought to tell you, Mr. Raynor. Immediately after the second shot I heard a woman cry out.”