ke the delicate task of setting the
shattered bone; of improvising splints and bandages; and supplying, what
a glance at the ugly wound showed to be needful, antiseptics? A surgeon,
whatever his skill, rarely dares trust the steadiness of his hand on the
bodies of those he loves; what then was Garth to do, who had no skill at
all?

He had his dark hour then, tasting ultimate despair. He sat beside her,
gripping his dull head between his hands, and striving desperately to
contrive, where there was nothing to contrive with. Oh, the pity and the
wrong of it, that it was _she_ who must be hurt! he thought; and how
joyfully he would have taken it himself to relieve her. _He_ bled
inwardly; and the physical pain of the most hideous wounds could not
equal the agony he experienced in his helplessness.

Meanwhile the wound momentarily changed. The arm began to swell and
darken; and Garth knew there was no time to lose. He made one attempt to
proceed, kneading the flesh of the arm very gently to explore the broken
ends of the bone--but Natalie's piteous cry of pain completely unmanned
him. He desisted, shaking like a leaf, and sick with compassion; and he
knew he would never be able to do it.

What seemed like an age passed; though it was no more than a few
minutes. He was bending over her, doing what little he could to ease her
pain; and with knotted brows rapidly considering, and rejecting, one
after another, the desperate expedients that suggested themselves.
Suddenly looking up he perceived among the trees, at the distance of a
few paces, Rina standing. Hot anger instantly welled up in his breast,
and made a red blur before his eyes. Rina's sex was no protection to her
then. He picked up his gun.

Observing the action, Rina mutely spread her hands, palms outward. Her
entire aspect had changed; the storm of passion had passed; and she
stood contrite and sullen. It was impossible for the blindest passion
to shoot at a figure in such an attitude. Garth lowered his gun; but he
still kept it across his knees, and his face did not relax. The woman
was loathsome to him.

"What do you want?" he demanded coldly.

Rina came a little closer. "I sorry," she said sulkily--like a child
unwillingly confessing a fault. "I t'ink I go looney for a while. I not
hear right. I t'ink she try to tak' my 'osban' from me!"

Garth glanced at the suffering Natalie with contracted brows. "That's
all very well!" he said bitterly. "But it can't un