em." As he spoke he was
taking off his waistcoat and shirt.

"By Jove, you have had a narrow escape!" the doctor said; "and how you
take it so coolly I cannot make out. Except as to the bleeding, they are
both far more serious than Allen's."

One of the wounds was in the left side, about three inches below the
arm. The man had evidently struck at the heart, but the quickness with
which Mr. Atherton had closed with him had disconcerted his aim; the
knife had struck rather far back, and glancing behind the ribs had cut a
deep gash under the shoulder-blade. The other wound had been given by a
downright blow at the right side, and had laid open the flesh from below
the breast down to the hip.

"It is only a case for plaster," Mr. Atherton said. "It is useful to
have a casing of fat sometimes. It is the same thing with a whale--you
have got to drive a harpoon in very deep to get at the vitals. You see
this wound in front has bled very little."

"You have lost a good deal of blood from the other cut," the surgeon
said. "I will draw the edges of the wounds together with a needle and
thread, and will then put some bandages on. You will have to keep quiet
for some days. Your wounds are much too serious to think of putting
plaster on at present."

"I have had a good deal more serious wounds than these," Mr. Atherton
said cheerfully, "and have had to ride seventy or eighty miles on the
following day. However I will promise you not to go ashore to-morrow;
and as the captain says he expects to be off the next morning, I shall
be able to submit myself to your orders without any great privation."

"Why did you not say that you were wounded, Mr. Atherton?" Wilfrid said
reproachfully as they went to their own cabin and prepared to turn in.

"To tell you the truth, Wilfrid, I hardly thought the wounds were as
deep as they are. My blood was up, you see, and when that is the case
you are scarcely conscious of pain. I felt a sharp shooting sensation on
both sides as I grasped those fellows by the throat, and afterwards I
knew I was bleeding a bit at the back, for I felt the warmth of the
blood down in my shoe; but there was nothing to prevent my carrying
young Allen, and one person can carry a wounded man with much more ease
to him than two can do, unless of course they have got a stretcher."

The next morning there was quite a stir in the ship when it was known
that two of the passengers were wounded, and Mr. and Mrs. Renshaw were