Page:Vance--Terence O'Rourke.djvu/61

 And then his grimace faded; O'Rourke saw the weapon slowly swinging at the man's side; and he head [sic] a voice ringing through the room, reverberating upon his tympanums like the thunders of the Day of Judgment.

"One—two—"

The arm ceased to sway; in a moment it would arise, Chambret would fire; O'Rourke even fancied that he heard the beginning of the fatal monosyllable:

"Th—" He closed his eyes—only to open them again immediately, as the voice of madame the princess sounded, following upon the sudden opening of the door:

"Messieurs!"

Chambret's half-raised arm fell. O'Rourke steadied himself with a hand against the wall; a dim mist swam before his eyes, seemingly almost palpable. Through it the voices of madame and Chambret came to him with odd and unfamiliar intonations. "Monsieur Chambret! What is this?" "A test of marksmanship, merely, madame. I am exhibiting my skill to Monsieur le Colonel O'Rourke; you will observe he holds a card in his hand."

O'Rourke clenched his teeth and so forced himself to a state of thought wherein he was capable of intelligent action. Chambret's concluding words were ringing in his ears; he glanced at his hand, saw that indeed he was holding the fatal ace of spades—which he must have picked up and retained unconsciously. He glanced at the woman, at Chambret; the latter stood stern and implacable; in his eyes O'Rourke read murder.

He divined the man's purpose to turn the farcical situation into a tragedy; but within him the instinct of self-preserva-