battle and
struggling out upon the low shingly bank of the pool, to fall exhausted
when she had dragged her unconscious canoe-mate out of the water.

After a dazed minute or two she was able to sit up and realize the
extent of the disaster. The canoe had disappeared after its leap into
the pool, and she did not know what had become of it. And Prime was
lying just as the dragging rescue had left him, with his arms flung
wide. His eyes were closed, and his face, under the three weeks' growth
of stubble beard, was haggard and drawn. In the dive over the fall he
had struck his head, and the blood was oozing slowly from a great bruise
on his forehead.

X

HORRORS

IT is a trite saying that even the weakest strand in the cable never
knows how much it can pull until the demanding strain comes. As a young
woman with athletic leanings, Lucetta had had arduous drillings in
first-aid, and had drilled others. If Prime had been merely drowned she
would have known precisely what to do. But the broken head was a
different matter.

Nevertheless, when her own exhaustion was a little assuaged, she essayed
the first-aid. Dragging the hapless one a little farther from the
water's edge, she knelt beside him to examine the wound with fingers
that trembled a little as they pressed, in spite of the brave diagnostic
resolution. There was no skull fracture, but she had no means of
determining how serious the concussion was. Prime was breathing heavily,
and the bruise was already beginning to puff up and discolor.

With hope still in abeyance, she worked swiftly. Warmth was the first
necessity. Her hands were shaking when she felt in the pocket of Prime's
coat for the precious bottle of matches. Happily it was unbroken, and
she could have wept for joy. There was plenty of fuel at hand, and in a
few minutes she had a fire blazing brightly, before which she propped
the wounded man to dry out, though his wet clothing gave him a
sweltering steam bath before the desiccating process began. It was
heroic treatment, but there was no alternative, and by the time she had
him measurably dried and warm, her own soggy discomfort was also
abating.

Having done what she could, her situation was still as forlorn as it
could well be; she was alone in the heart of the forest wilderness with
a wounded man, who might live or die as the chance should befall--and
there was no food. Sh