He fell without a word.
I dropped the revolver and knelt by his side.

I could tell he was dangerously wounded, and indeed I knew at that moment that nothing would save him.

My pistol had been pointed in the region of his heart...." He shuddered, dropping his face in his hands, and the girl by his side, encircling his shoulder with a protecting arm, murmured something in his ear.

Presently he recovered.
"He wasn't quite dead.

I heard him murmur something but I wasn't able to distinguish what he said.