saw that her husband had opened his eyes and was looking
round in a dazed, bewildered way.

"It is all right, Sampson," Mr. Atherton said cheerfully; "we have
thrashed the natives handsomely; they have bolted, and there is no fear
of their coming back again. You have had a clip on the head with a
tomahawk, but I do not think that you will be much the worse for it at
the end of a week or two. We have just been manufacturing a litter for
you, and now we will lift you on to it. Now, ladies, I will take him by
the shoulders; will you take him by the feet, Mrs. Renshaw; and do you,
Mrs. Sampson, support his head? That is the way. Now, I will just roll
up my coat and put it under his head, and then I think he will do; lay
our rifles beside him. Now, I will take the two handles at his head; do
you each take one at his feet. The weight will not be great, and you can
change about when your arms get tired. Yes, I see what you are thinking
about, Mrs. Renshaw. We must go along bit by bit. We will carry our
patient here for half a mile, then I will come back and fetch Wilfrid up
to that point, then we will go on again, and so on."

"All the hard work falls on you, Mr. Atherton; it is too bad," Mrs.
Renshaw said with grateful tears in her eyes.

"It will do me a world of good, Mrs. Renshaw. I must have lost over a
stone weight since yesterday. If this sort of thing were to go on for a
few weeks I should get into fighting condition. Now, are you both ready?
Lift."

In a short time they came to the point where Wilfrid and the child were
sitting down together. Wilfrid had been impressing upon her that her
father was hurt, and that she must be very good and quiet, and walk
along quietly by her mother's side. So when they came along she got up
and approached them with a subdued and awe-struck air. She took the hand
her mother held out to her.

"Is father very bad, mother?" she asked in a low tone.

"He is better than he was, dear, and we must hope and pray that he will
soon be well again; but at present you must not speak to him. He must be
kept very quiet and not allowed to talk."

"You sit where you are, Wilfrid, I will come back for you in half an
hour," Mr. Atherton said.

"That you won't Mr. Atherton," Wilfrid said, getting up. "I have had a
long rest, for, except for pulling my trigger and loading, I have done
nothing since the first short walk when we started this morning. All
this excitement has done me a lot of good, an