view. But a
passionate justness, very rare in women, forced her to acknowledge
that Evelyn's remonstrance, if injudicious, was not unjustifiable. The
girl saw clearly that the sheer love of danger for its own sake, which
Frontier life breeds in men of daring spirit, had impelled Desmond to
needless and inconsiderate risk; saw also that his own perception of
the fact added fire to his sharp retort.

He stirred at length, with an uneasy shifting of the damaged shoulder.

"This bandage is hideously uncomfortable," he said in a changed tone.
"Could you manage to untie it and fix it up more firmly till Mackay
comes?"

Thus directly appealed to, Evelyn cast a nervous glance at Honor. The
girl made neither sign nor movement, though her hands ached to relieve
the discomfort of the wounded man; and after a perceptible moment of
hesitation, Evelyn went to Desmond's side, her heart fluttering like
the heart of a prisoned bird.

With tremulous fingers she unfastened the knot behind his shoulder,
and, having done so, rested her hand inadvertently on the broken bone.
It yielded beneath her touch, and she dropped the end of the bandage
with a little cry.

"Oh, Theo, it _moved_! I can't touch it again! It's ... it's
horrible!"

Her husband stifled an exclamation of pain and annoyance.

"Could _you_ do it for me, Honor?" he asked. "It can hardly be left
like this?"

She came to him at once, and righted the bandage with deft,
unshrinking fingers, rolling part of the long scarf into a pad under
his arm to ease the aching shoulder.

"Thank you," he said. "That's first-rate."

And as he shouted for a much-needed "peg," Honor passed quietly out of
the room.

Evelyn remained standing a little apart, watching her husband with
speculative eyes. Then she came and stood near him, on the side
farthest from the alarming bone that moved at a touch.

"I'm sorry, Theo. Are you very cross with me?"

Her lips quivered a little, and the pallor of her face caught at his
heart.

"No, no. We won't make mountains out of molehills, eh, Ladybird? Kiss
and be friends! like a good child, and get to bed as fast as possible.
Mackay will be here soon, and you'll be best out of the way."

He drew her down and kissed her forehead. Then, as she slipped
silently away through his study, and on into the bedroom beyond, he
lay back with a sigh in which relief and weariness were oddly mingled.
He was devoutly thankful when the arrival of James Mackay