net
dangling between her narrow shoulder-blades, regarded the sleazy
headgear ruefully, and then spying the cap in the ditch, she deposited
her burden gently upon the grass once more and scrambled over to
investigate her find.

The cap had an inner lining of something which seemed to be like rubber,
and the girl flew off down the road to return with her improvised bowl
filled with clear, cold spring water. Dropping on her knees beside the
unconscious figure, she poured the contents of the cap over his face and
head.

The young man sputtered, gasped, moaned a little, and opened astonished
brown eyes upon her.

"How--how the devil did you come here?" he asked ungallantly.

"Over the fence." Her reply was laconic, but it bore an unmistakable
hint that further query along that line would be highly unwelcome. "Just
you lay still while I git some more water, an' I'll tie up that head of
yourn."

The young man's hand went unsteadily to his aching brow and came away
brightly pink, so he decided to take this uncomely vision's advice, and
remained quiescent, wondering how he himself had come to be there, and
what had happened to him.

According to the map, he had surely been on the right road, yet it had
as assuredly not looked like this one; the other had been a broad, State
highway, while this----

He closed his burning eyes to shield them from the glare of the sun, and
a confused memory returned to him of that invitingly green, shady
pasture which had tempted him as a short cut toward the next village,
and of something which thundered down upon him from behind and lifted
him into chaos. Good Lord, and he had only six days left!

"You'd better take a drink of this first an' I kin use the rest on your
head." A composed, practical voice advised by his side, and he looked up
gratefully into the snub-nosed, freckled face of his benefactress as she
held the brimming cap to his lips.

He drank deeply, then struggled to a sitting posture, his face whitening
beneath its tan at the sudden wrench of pain which twisted the muscles
of his back.

"Kin you hold the cap steady?" The girl thrust it into his hands without
waiting for a reply, and, sitting down with her back to him, calmly
turned back the hem of her gown and tore a wide strip from the coarse
but immaculately white cambric petticoat beneath.

Dipping it into the water, she bandaged his head not unskilfully, and
then rose.

"There! I gotta git you over to the shad