help directly, and--"

"Morning, sir. Find Mr Bracy better, sir?"

Roberts looked up sharply, to find Gedge, with his face looking very
thin and more angular than ever, leaning as far as he could out of a
narrow window.

"Yes--no--well, getting on, Gedge."

"Oh yus, sir; he's getting on. Pecks better now."

"I'm glad of it. You're better too, my lad."

"Me, sir. Oh, I'm getting a reg'lar impostor, sir. Ought to be back in
the ranks, only I don't want to leave Mr Bracy, sir."

"Certainly not. Keep with him, and do all you can."

"Right, sir. Do a lot more if old Gee's wife wasn't there, sir."

"Humph!" ejaculated Roberts, with his hand involuntarily busy rubbing
his back. "By the way, Gedge, have you noticed anything particular
about Mr Bracy when you've been with him?"

"No, sir. Oh yus, sir; I know what you mean."

"Ha!" cried Roberts. "You have noticed it?"

"Oh yus. You mean those fits o' the blue dumps as he has."

"Well--er--yes," said Roberts.

"Yus, sir; he has them bad. Gets a sort o' idee in his head as he'll
never be all right again."

"Yes, yes; all weakness."

"Jest what I telled him, sir. `Look ye here, sir,' I says; `see how you
bled that day 'fore I could stop it. Yer can't expect to be strong as
you was till you gets filled up again.'"

"Of course not," assented Roberts.

"That's it, sir. And I says to him, I says, `Look at me, sir. Just
afore I got my blue pill--leastwise it warn't a blue pill, but a bit o'
iron--I was good for a five-and-twenty mile march on the level or a
climb from eight hay-hem to eight pee-hem, while now four goes up and
down the orspital ward and I'm used up.' He's getting on though, sir.
You can see it when you cheers him up."

"Yes; I noticed that," said Roberts.

"Specially if you talks about paying them roughs out for shooting at us
that day as they did."

"Ha! cowardly in the extreme."

"Warn't it, sir? When we're up and at it, we lads, we're not very nice;
but fire at a poor beggar carrying his wounded orficer--why, I wouldn't
think one of ours 'd do such a thing--let alone believe it."

"Of course they would not, my lad," said Roberts. "There, I'm glad to
hear about how well you attend to Mr Bracy."

He nodded, and went on to his quarters, wondering to himself over what
had taken place at Bracy's bedside.

"It was very queer," he thought; "but it shows one thing--the poor
fellow's a good deal off his head at times, or he wo