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272 consequences were to be more far-reaching than he dreamed.

The aged monomaniac occupied the right-hand corner of the rear seat. Thus his one able hand was next to Judith, in close juxtaposition to the revolver in the holster on her hip. Without the least warning his left hand closed upon the weapon, withdrew it, and levelled it at the back of Alan's head.

As he pulled the trigger Judith flung herself bodily upon the arm. Even so, the bullet found a goal, though in another than the intended victim. The muscular forearm of the chauffeur received it. With a shriek of pain the man released the wheel and grasped his arm.

Before Alan could move to prevent the disaster the car, running without a guiding hand, cannoned off a low embankment to the left and shot full-tilt into a shallow ditch on the right, shelling its passengers like peas from a broken pod. Alan catapulted a good twenty feet through the air and alighted with such force that he lay stunned for several moments.

When he came to he found Barcus helping him to his feet, a heavy seven-passenger touring-car halted in the roadway indicated the manner in which his friend had arrived on the scene of the accident. When damages were assessed it was found that none of the party had suffered seriously but the chauffeur and Seneca Trine himself. The former had only his