s a little hillock, against one side of which
it had rested, which was free from the prickly furze, and, all things
considered, made no bad resting-place. The wrenched ankle pained
me severely, but I was dazed by the blow on the head, and had more
difficulty in fighting against an inclination to sleep or swoon than in
enduring that discomfort. In spite of all my efforts, all knowledge of
surrounding objects faded away at times, and I passed into a momentary
oblivion, though a twinge from the injured ankle always swiftly recalled
me to myself. In a while I remembered that I had my cigar-case in my
pocket, together with a box of those old-fashioned brown paper fusees
which were commonly used by smokers at that time. I had only one hand
available, and it cost me a good deal of trouble to get at that bit of
solace and companionship; but when I had lit a cigar, and had coiled
myself into the most comfortable posture I could find, I felt more
patient than before, and smoked away for half an hour or so in a
tranquillity more or less enforced. I listened keenly all the time, and
anybody who has ever tried the experiment knows how that act retards the
slow passage of the moments at any time of anxiety and pain. If anybody
thinks that an old campaigner is making much of a very slight accident,
I shall ask him to remember the circumstances under which it occurred.
I had been bitterly anxious the whole week, uncertain of the whereabouts
of the lady who loved me, and whom I loved with all my soul, imagining,
in a fashion which seemed contrary to my own nature, a hundred thousand
misfortunes, and suffering more in mind than I can ever have the ability
to express in words. And now, just as I had come to a knowledge of where
to find her, with the note from her dear hand still near my heart, and
with the knowledge in my mind that every fruitless minute spent there
would be full of weariness and doubt to her, I was as effectually
stopped by this trumpery overturn as if it had been the most serious
disaster in the world. My cigar was smoked out, and, after a long pause,
I lit another. Sometimes the mere act of listening as intently as I did
made me imagine noises in my neighborhood, and I called out frequently
on the mere chance of these sounds being real. Little by little the cold
and wet began to take effect upon me. I grew more and more heavy with
it, and at last, with the second cigar still alight between my lips, I
fell fast asleep, an