There was now no time to stand upon ceremony and she allowed him to dress the wound with all the skill he could muster, Dave in the meantime keeping watch, that the Indians might not surprise them. Fortunately Henry, having suffered similarly himself, knew what to do, and after he had finished Mrs. Risley announced that the sore place felt greatly relieved.
"But I don't see how I can travel far," she said, trying to stand up. "My limbs are all in a tremble under me."
"We will help you along," said Henry, sympathetically, and Dave echoed the words.
With the wounded woman between them, it was no easy matter to pick their way through the black forest and more than once one or another stumbled over a tree root or into a hole. Looking back, they saw that the fire was now dying down. The whooping of the redmen also lessened and finally ceased altogether.
"I know you wish to get home," panted Mrs. Risley, presently. "But—but—I cannot go—go another step!" And with these words she pitched forward and would have gone in a heap had not their strong youthful arms supported her.
"She has fainted," said Henry, "and it is not to be wondered at. Come, here is something of a
