‘Is it loaded?’ ‘I don’t know,’ said Miss Challoner, incurably truthful. He began to laugh again, and walked forward. ‘Shoot then,’ he invited, ‘and we shall know. For I’m coming several steps nearer, my lady.’ Miss Challoner saw that he meant it, shut her eyes and resolutely pulled the trigger. There was a deafening report and the Marquis went staggering back. He recovered in a moment. ‘It was loaded,’ he said coolly.
“Shoot Me” the epitaph of a man who was shot
