wall in search of it,
and while I was doing this, somebody caught me suddenly by the throat.

"All the blood in my veins seemed to turn to ice, and I screamed loudly.
Immediately I screamed the hand let go, but I was too frightened to
move. It was so silent in the room then, that I could hear my own heart
beating, but as I stood there by the wall not daring to move I thought I
heard a rustling sound by the window. My hands kept wandering over the
wall behind me, trying to find the switch of the light. Then, suddenly,
there was a dreadful sound--the report of a gun. It seemed to fill the
room with echoes, which rolled to the window and back again. As the
sound of the report died away, my fingers touched the switch and I
turned on the light.

"I was standing close to the head of the bed, and the first thing I
noticed was something glittering on the carpet at my feet. I stooped and
picked it up. It was a revolver. Then my eyes turned to the bed, and I
saw poor Mrs. Heredith. She was lying quite still with blood on her
mouth. I could see that she was still alive, because her eyes looked at
me. At that terrible sight I forgot everything except that she was in
agony. I was bending over her wiping her mouth when I caught the sound
of footsteps running up the stairs. It flashed across my mind that I
must not be found there, in a room where I had no right to be, holding
in my hand a revolver which had just been discharged. I switched off the
light and ran out of the room. The light from the landing outside guided
me to the door. I had just time to get outside and slip behind the
velvet curtains when some of the gentlemen appeared on the landing.

"I stayed there hidden for some time, too frightened to move, and
expecting every moment to be discovered. I could hear them moving about
searching, and I thought that somebody would draw aside the curtains and
see me hiding underneath. But nobody came near me. I heard them go into
Mrs. Heredith's room, and Mr. Musard started talking. The corridor was
silent, and it seemed to me that I had a chance of escaping downstairs
if the staircase was clear. I crept across to the balusters, still
keeping under the cover of the curtains, and looked over. I could see
nobody in the hall downstairs. I slipped the revolver into my dress and
ran downstairs as quickly as I could. I got to the hall without meeting
anyone, and then I knew that I was safe. But just as I turned into the
passage leading t