I ran to the window and peered out into the night.
The wood through which we had approached the house
seemed to encompass it. The branches of a great tree
brushed the panes. I was tugging at the fastening of
the window when I became aware of Bates at my elbow.
"Did something happen, sir?"
His unbroken calm angered me. Some one had fired
at me through a window and I had narrowly escaped
being shot. I resented the unconcern with which this
servant accepted the situation.
"Nothing worth mentioning. Somebody tried to assassinate
me, that's all," I said, in a voice that failed
to be calmly ironical. I was still fumbling at the catch
of the window.
"Allow me, sir,"-and he threw up the sash with an
ease that increased my irritation.
I leaned out and tried to find some clue to my assailant.
Bates opened another window and surveyed the
dark landscape with me.
"It was a shot from without, was it, sir?"
"Of course it was; you didn't suppose I shot at myself,
did you?"
He examined the broken pane and picked up the bullet
from the table.
"It's a rifle-ball, I should say."
The bullet was half-flattened by its contact with the
wall. It was a cartridge ball of large caliber and might
have been fired from either rifle or pistol.
"It's very unusual, sir!" I wheeled upon him angrily
and found him fumbling with the bit of metal, a
troubled look in his face. He at once continued, as
though anxious to allay my fears. "Quite accidental,
most likely. Probably boys on the lake are shooting at
ducks."
I laughed out so suddenly that Bates started back in
alarm.
"You idiot!" I roared, seizing him by the collar with
both hands and shaking him fiercely. "You fool! Do the
people around here shoot ducks at night? Do they
shoot water-fowl with elephant guns and fire at people
through windows just for fun?"
I threw him back against the table so that it leaped
away from him, and he fell prone on the floor.
"Get up!" I commanded, "and fetch a lantern."
He said nothing, but did as I bade him. We traversed
the long cheerless hall to the front door, and I sent him
before me into the woodland. My notions of the geography
of the region were the vaguest, but I wished to
examine for myself the premises that evidently contained
a dangerous prowler. I was very angry and my
rage increased as I followed Bates, who had suddenly
retired within himself. We stood soon beneath the
lights of the refectory window.
The ground was covered with leaves which broke
crisply under our feet.
"What lies beyond here?" I demanded.
"About a quarter of mile of woods, sir, and then the
lake."
"Go ahead," I ordered, "straight to the lake."