himself.

"I don't know much about bandaging wounds," he said, "but I know a little,
and some of the native women are very good at nursing."

Alice, aided by the negresses, tore up the linen into strips and sewed
these together to make bandages. Canes split up formed excellent splints.
Will rendered all the assistance in his power. Now he held splints in
position while Mr. Palethorpe wound the bandages round them, and now he
helped to distribute among the wounded the soothing drinks that the
servants of the house brought down.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked as the last bandage had been
applied.

"I will drive down to the town and see how things are doing there. Peter
tells me that two of my horses are killed, but the other two seemed to
have escaped without injury, as the part of the stable in which they stood
was sheltered by a huge tree, which lost its head, but was fortunately
otherwise uninjured. You had better come down with us, Alice; we must stop
at our house in town till things are put straight here. I will, of course,
ride backwards and forwards every day."

"Can't I be of some help here, father?"

"None at all; by nightfall the slaves will have built temporary shelters
of canes and branches of trees. The overseer is among those who were
killed; he was on his way from his house to the huts when a branch struck
him on the head and killed him on the spot. I will put Sambo in his place
for the present; he is a very reliable man, and I can trust him to issue
the stores to the negroes daily. I am afraid it will be some time before
we get the house put right again, as there will be an immense demand for
carpenters in the town. We may feel very thankful, however, that we have
got a house there. It is a good strong one, built of stone, so we may hope
to find it intact."

The carriage was brought round and they took their seats in it. The
planter ordered two strong negroes to get axes and to stand on the steps,
and when all was ready they started. The journey was long and broken; at
every few yards trees had fallen across the road, and these had to be
chopped through and removed before the carriage could pass. It was
therefore late in the day before they reached the town. Will could not
help grieving at the terrible destruction wrought in the forest. In some
places acres of ground had been cleared of the trees, in others the trunks
and branches lay piled in an inextricable chaos. All the huts and cotta