ing's done for him.'

'If symptoms mean anything, they mean that,' he replied. 'Something
deadly is eating away at his vitals, and sapping the very foundations
of his life. You see, he can tell us nothing; he is unconscious.'

'Is there no doctor for whom we could send, with whom you could confer?'

Again Dr. Merril shook his head. 'We are away from everything here,'
he replied; 'it is fifty miles to Plymouth over rough, hilly roads,
and----'

'I have it!' I cried, for the word Plymouth set my mind working. I had
spent some time there, and knew the town well.

'Yes, what is it?' asked the doctor eagerly.

'Do you happen to know Colonel McClure? He is chief of the St.
George's Military Hospital in Plymouth.'

'An Army doctor,' said Merril; 'no, I don't know him. I have heard of
him. But how can he help? He has been most of his life in India. I
imagine, too, that while he may be very good for amputations and
wounds, he would have no experience in such cases as this. Of course I
shall be glad to meet him, if you can get him here; but that seems
impossible. No trains to Plymouth to-night, and to-morrow is Sunday.'

'May I ring for Sir Thomas?' I asked.

'By all means.' And a minute later not only Sir Thomas, but Lady
Bolivick, again entered the room. Evidently the old gentleman was much
moved. The thought of having a dying man in his house was like a
nightmare to him.

'There's no getting to Plymouth to-night!' he cried.

'Haven't you got a motor-car here?'

'Yes, but no chauffeur. My car hasn't been used for weeks, as my man
has been called up. That is why I am obliged to use horses for
everything. You see, my coachman can't drive a car.'

'Didn't Springfield and Buller come in a car?' I asked.

'Yes. But if I remember right, it was in a two-seater.'

'Never mind what it is, as long as it will get to Plymouth. Let us go
and speak to them.'

We found the two men with Lorna Bolivick and Norah Blackwater in the
library. They had evidently finished dinner, and Springfield was in
the act of pouring a liqueur into his coffee as I entered.

'How is the patient?' he asked almost indifferently.

'Very ill indeed,' I replied. 'Unless something is done for him soon,
he will die. Could you,' and I turned to Buller, 'motor to Plymouth,
and fetch a doctor I will tell you of? I will give you a note for him.'

'Awfully sorry,' said Buller, 'but I daren't drive. My left leg is so
weak that I c