you," I said to Latimer.
"You must get those wet things off, anyhow."

He followed me inside, where I took down the small hanging lamp and
placed it on the table. Then very carefully I helped him strip off his
coat, bringing to light a grey flannel shirt, the left sleeve of which
was soaked in blood.

I took out my knife, and ripped it up from the cuff to the shoulder.
The wound was about a couple of inches above the elbow, a small clean
puncture right through from side to side. It was bleeding a bit, but
one could see at a glance that the bullet had just missed the bone.

"You're lucky," I said. "Another quarter of an inch, and that arm
would have been precious little use to you for the next two months.
Does it hurt much?"

He shook his head. "Not the least," he replied carelessly. "I hardly
knew I was hit until you grabbed hold of me."

I tied my handkerchief round as tightly as possible just above the
place, and then going to the locker hauled out our spare fancy costume
which had previously done duty for Mr. Gow.

"You get these on first," I said, "and then I'll fix you up properly."

I thrust my head out through the cabin door to see how things were
going, and found that we were already clear of the creek and heading
back towards Queenborough. Tommy, who was sitting at the tiller
puffing away peacefully at a pipe, removed the latter article from his
mouth.

"Where are we going to, my pretty maid?" he inquired.

"I don't know," I said; "I'll ask the passenger as soon as I've
finished doctoring him."

I returned to the cabin, where Mr. Latimer, who had stripped off
his wet garments, was attempting to dry himself with a dishcloth. I
managed to find him a towel, and then, as soon as he had struggled
into a pair of flannel trousers and a vest, I set about the job of
tying up his arm. An old shirt of Tommy's served me as a bandage, and
although I don't profess to be an expert, I knew enough about first
aid to make a fairly serviceable job of it. Anyhow Mr. Latimer
expressed himself as being completely satisfied.

"You'd better have a drink now," I said. "That's part of the
treatment."

I mixed him a stiff peg, which he consumed without protest; and then,
after he had inserted himself carefully into a jersey and coat, we
both went outside.

"Hullo!" exclaimed Tommy genially. "How do you feel now?"

Our visitor sat down on one of the side seats in the cockpit, and
contemplated us both with his pleasant