on one side, Dale; I want to look at his eyes."

I stepped back, feeling very uncomfortable, and Mr Frewen parted the
lad's eyelids gently enough.

"Oh!" came more loudly than ever, as Mr Frewen looked closely into
first one and then the other eye.

Another moan and groan came fast one after the other, sometimes loud and
sometimes piteous in the extreme, making me shiver again as I imagined
all kinds of horrors.

At first Mr Frewen was very gentle in his examination; but as Walters
kept on groaning, the doctor seemed to lose patience, and in feeling the
patient's ribs, testing his arms and joints, he was, I thought,
unnecessarily rough and harsh.

Mr Frewen did not speak out, but kept on uttering little ejaculations;
and at last he began to pass his hands over and around Walters' skull,
while I shuddered, and fully expected to hear the broken bone-edges
grate together from a fracture.

But the doctor let my messmate's head sink down again, quickly too, for
Walters uttered a thrilling moan and let his face hang down away from
the doctor, looking so ghastly and strange that I was more horrified
than ever in the dim cabin-light.

I looked anxiously at the doctor, silently asking him what was the
matter; but he only gave me a short nod of the head, and once more
directed his attention to Walters, who lay breathing slowly in a catchy,
spasmodic fashion, and I was almost about to question Mr Frewen, but he
once more bent over the prisoner patient, listening to his breathing.

I saw him frown and then lay his hand upon Walters' side, and then I
started, for there came so piteous a groan that I was sure the ribs must
have been crushed, and I felt angry with him for not being more
sympathetic.

"He went against us and played the blackguard," I thought to myself;
"but he has been severely punished, and is down, so it isn't right to
jump upon him."

I felt then that I disliked Mr Frewen, who must be a cold-hearted,
brutal kind of man, and I was not surprised at Mr Denning the invalid
showing so much dislike to him now.

"Yes, he's very bad," said Mr Frewen at last, "I shall have to get
ready a mixture for him--something pretty strong too."

I was looking anxiously in his eyes as he said this, and then we both
looked at Walters, for the poor fellow winced and moaned again.

"Yes," said Mr Frewen to me, but watching his patient the while;
"medicine is as a rule very nasty, and the strong mixtures worst of all;
but