for just such emergencies.

"The poor little dear!" exclaimed the motherly Irish woman. "Poor little
dear!"

Meanwhile, the cavalry charge went on. Estelle had done her part in
this. Was it the last part she was to play?

Ruth and Alice asked themselves this as they hurried toward the
hospital.

"Oh, if she should be killed!" gasped Ruth.

"Wouldn't it be dreadful? And no one to tell who she really is," added
Alice. "We must go to her."

"Yes, as soon as they will let us see her," agreed Ruth.

Dr. Wherry and the trained nurse were busy over the injured girl. A
quick examination disclosed no broken bones, but it could not yet be
told whether or not there were internal injuries. They could only wait
for her to recover consciousness and hope for the best. All that could
be done was done.

"Plucky little girl!" murmured Mr. Pertell, when told that Estelle was
resting easily, but was still insensible. "She must have seen that she
was going to have a bad fall, but she kept on and saved the film for us.
We won't have to retake her scene at all--merely cut out the accident.
Do your best for her, Dr. Wherry."

"I will, you may be sure."

Ruth and Alice were told that they could see Estelle as soon as she
recovered consciousness, and it was safe for visitors to be admitted.
And several hours after the accident the nurse, Miss Lyon, came to
summon them from their room, where they were waiting.

"She has opened her eyes," Miss Lyon said.

"Did she ask for us?" Alice asked.

"I can't say that she did. She seems dazed yet. Sometimes in falls like
this, where the head is injured, it is days before the patient realizes
what has happened."

"Is her head injured?" Ruth inquired.

"Yes, she seems to have received a hard blow on it. Whether there is a
fracture or a concussion Dr. Wherry had not yet determined. It will take
a little time to decide. Meanwhile, you may see her, just for a moment."

Alice and Ruth softly entered the room where Estelle lay on a white bed.
Her face was pale, but her eyes were bright. There was a subtle odor of
disinfectants, of opiates and of other drugs in the room--a veritable
hospital atmosphere.

"Don't startle her," cautioned the nurse, motioning for silence.

"We'll be careful," promised Alice, in a whisper.

The two sisters approached the bed. Estelle looked at them but, strange
to say, there was no look of recognition in her eyes. Ruth and Alice
might have been two strangers fo