. Still she felt a weight lifted off her mind when she saw the
party entering the village.

"Well, mother, you must have had a terrible journey of it yesterday,"
Wilfrid said, after he had assured her that he felt none the worse for
what had passed, and was indeed stronger and better than he had been two
days before.

"It was a terrible journey, Wilfrid. Fourteen miles does not seem such a
very long distance to walk, though I do not suppose I ever walked as far
since I was a girl; but the weight of the stretcher made all the
difference. It did not feel much when we started, but it soon got
heavier as we went on; and though we changed sides every few minutes it
seemed at last as if one's arms were being pulled out of their sockets.
We could never have done it if it had not been for Mr. Atherton. He kept
us cheery the whole time. It seems ridiculous to remember that he has
always been representing himself as unequal to any exertion. He was
carrying the greater part of the weight, and indeed five miles before we
got to the end of our journey, seeing how exhausted we were becoming, he
tied two sticks six feet long to our end of the poles, and in that way
made the work a great deal lighter for us, and of course a great deal
heavier for himself. He declared he hardly felt it, for by that time I
had torn two wide strips from the bottom of my dress, tied them
together, and put them over his shoulders and fastened them to the two
poles; so that he got the weight on his shoulders instead of his hands.
But in addition to Mr. Sampson's weight he carried Milly perched on his
shoulder the last eight miles. He is a noble fellow."

"He did not say anything about carrying Milly," Wilfrid said, "or of
taking all the weight of the litter. He is a splendid fellow, mother."

"He was terribly exhausted when he got in," Mrs. Renshaw said; "and was
looking almost as pale as death when we went into the light in the hut
where the other fugitives had assembled. As soon as the others relieved
him of the weight of the litter, and lifted Milly down from his
shoulder, he went out of the hut. As soon as I had seen Mr. Sampson well
cared for, I went out to look for him, and found he had thrown himself
down on the ground outside, and was lying there, I thought at first
insensible, but he wasn't. I stooped over him and he said, 'I am all
right, Mrs. Renshaw, but I was not up to answering questions. In half an
hour I shall be myself again, but I own th