"Unless you
want a bath before your bed, come along!"
It was Rupert's voice, coming from the end of the drawbridge. A moment
later he and De Gautet stepped out on the bridge. Rupert's arm was
through De Gautet's, and in the middle of the bridge he detained his
companion and leant over. I dropped behind the shelter of "Jacob's
Ladder."
Then Master Rupert had a little sport. He took from De Gautet a bottle
which he carried, and put it to his lips.
"Hardly a drop!" he cried discontentedly, and flung it in the moat.
It fell, as I judged from the sound and the circles on the water, within
a yard of the pipe. And Rupert, taking out his revolver, began to shoot
at it. The first two shots missed the bottle, but hit the pipe. The
third shattered the bottle. I hoped that the young ruffian would be
content; but he emptied the other barrels at the pipe, and one, skimming
over the pipe, whistled through my hair as I crouched on the other side.
"'Ware bridge!" a voice cried, to my relief.
Rupert and De Gautet cried, "A moment!" and ran across. The bridge was
drawn back, and all became still. The clock struck a quarter-past one. I
rose and stretched myself and yawned.
I think some ten minutes had passed when I heard a slight noise to my
right. I peered over the pipe, and saw a dark figure standing in the
gateway that led to the bridge.
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