R. F. White

“ Snatching up the rifles, Ralph followed the girl as she threaded her way through the trees. At last she halted abruptly. "Look" she whispered. "There they are."
And, indeed, Ralph saw that all the trees around him were congested with grouse. He levelled his rifle and fired.
Bang! A grouse fell at his feet. He snatched the second rifle from Lady Margaret, who had assumed the rôle of loader. Bang ! Another fell. There was no escape from that deadly eye.
Lady Margaret had been brought up to sport from her earliest youth. As a child she had watched many of the finest shots in Europe. ”

“ You will walk steadily backwards for two miles. If you refuse I shall shoot Lady Margaret. And I shall shoot to kill."
His nerves as steady as steel in this desperate crisis, Ralph swiftly analysed the situation. If he backed away as commanded, Sir Earnest would then mount Grey Bob and ride off with Lady Margaret, and Ralph realised that even her death was preferable to this. If he made a dash at the assailant, the latter, to save his own skin, would almost certainly fire. ”