Later she never knew by what impulse she acted. It was as if a voice
suddenly cried aloud in her heart that Wingarde was in deadly danger.
She gave Archie her cup and rose.
"Just a moment!" she said hurriedly. "I see Hereford over there."
She moved swiftly in the direction of the two men. There was disaster
in the air. She seemed to breathe it as she drew near. Her husband
straightened himself before she reached him, and half turned with his
contemptuous laugh. The next instant Nina saw his companion's hand whip
something from behind him. She shrieked aloud and sprang forward like a
terrified animal. The man's eyes maddened her more than the deadly
little weapon that flashed into view in his right hand.
There followed prompt upon her cry the sharp explosion of a
revolver-shot, and then the din of a panic-stricken crowd.
But Nina did not share the panic. She had flung herself in front of her
husband, had flung her whole weight upon the upraised arm that had
pointed the revolver and borne it downwards with all her strength. Those
who saw her action compared it later with the furious attack of a
tigress defending her young.
It was all over in a few brief seconds.
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