at present."

"It is the cold which saved my life, I fancy," Ralph said, "by
stopping the bleeding; but now it wants bathing in warm water, for
some time, and then bandaging.

"But where are you going to put me?"

"In the boys' room, upstairs, sir. It is just as they left it."

"I have no doubt it is very comfortable," Ralph said, "but all this
country is certain to be scoured, by the enemy's cavalry. I do not
want to be taken prisoner; and rather than that I would go and live
out in the woods, and only crawl here, once a day, for some food."

The husband had now come downstairs and, as he aided his wife to
first bathe and then bandage the wound, they talked over the
matter; and agreed that Ralph could be hid in a loft over a shed, a
hundred yards from the house, and very much concealed in the woods,
without much fear of discovery. The farmer at once started to make
the place as comfortable as he could; and the wife followed with a
couple of blankets, a quarter of an hour later.

Ralph, by this time, could scarcely crawl along. The fever
consequent upon the wound, the fatigue, and the cold made his head
throb so terribly that he could scarcely hold it up and, had it not
been for the assistance of the farmer's wife, he could not have
crawled across the short distance to the shed. The loft was low and
small and, when the wooden shutter of the window--or rather
opening, for it was unglazed--was closed, it was lighted only by
the light which came in at the crevices. The shed was altogether of
wood; so that the shutter--which happened to be at its back--would
scarcely have been noticed while, from the shed being high and the
loft very low, anyone inside would scarcely have suspected the
existence of any loft, at all. It was reached by a ladder and trap
door.

The farmer assisted Ralph up the ladder. The shutter was open, and
Ralph saw that the farmer had made a bed of straw, upon which his
wife was spreading one of the blankets. Ralph now took off his
uniform, and lay down; and was covered first by the other blanket,
and then with his own fur-lined coat. The farmer's wife had
thoughtfully brought a pillow with her; and Ralph in a few minutes
was lying in what--had it not been for the pain of his wound--would
have been intense comfort, after the cold and fatigue. His hostess
went away, and returned with a large jug of water and a glass,
which she put down within reach of his arm.

"There is nothing else you want?"