I swear that I never fired a shot that night; I swear that I no more had a hand in Mr.Elster's death than you had.

Will you believe me, sir ?" The accents of truth are rarely to be mistaken, and Val was certain he heard them now.

So far, he believed the man; and from that moment dismissed the doubt from his mind, if indeed he had not dismissed it before.
"Do you know who did fire the shot ?" "I do not; I was not out at all that night.

Calne pitched upon me, because there was no one else in particular to pitch upon.

A dozen poachers were in the fray, most of them with guns; little wonder the random shot from one should have found a mark.