himself out. Several times, when he was almost up, his knee slipped and he fell back again; but he never lost his grip. He concluded that he would have to raise himself by the shoulders alone, independent of his legs; and he came up the steps on his belly, holding to the edge of one step with his chin while he got his hands on the next one. He was making more noise than he had expected, and he was admonishing himself to be quiet, in a panting mumble, when the door was suddenly thrown open, and a woman stood in the light. He lay perfectly still and watched her, his chin on the edge of the veranda floor.
He was an incredible, a shocking sight. He had cut his forehead, and the blood was over his face. One eye was almost closed in a bruise; the other wavered like a drunken man’s. He was plastered with mud to the hair. His coat was torn from his shoulder. His mouth was open, and his breath came in hoarse gasps.
The woman screamed “My God!” and
