HER CLINGING ARMS
"I fear I can offer no assistance," said the lieutenant, pointing to his arm which was hanging limp at his side.
"Why, Albert, are you hurt? What is the matter? You are hurt!" cried his mother, anxiously.
"Not much, but I fear my arm is useless. You might feel it," he said to Ranald.
Carefully Ranald passed his hand down the arm.
"Say nothing," whispered the lieutenant to him. "It's broken. Tie it up some way." Without a word Ranald stripped the bark of a birch tree, and making a case, laid the arm in it and bound it firmly with his silk handkerchief.
"We ought to have a sling," he said, turning to Kate.
"Here," said Madame De Lacy, untying a lace scarf from her neck, "take this."
Kate took the scarf, and while Ranald held the arm in place she deftly made it into a sling.
"There," said the lieutenant, "that feels quite comfortable. Now let's go."
"Come, Maimie, I'll carry you up the hill," said Harry.
"No," said Ranald, decidedly, "she will go in the canoe. That will be easier."
"Quite right," said the lieutenant. "Sims, perhaps you will give my mother your arm, and if Miss Kate will be kind enough to escort me, we can all four go in the carriage; but first we shall see the rest of the party safely off."
"Come, then, Maimie," said Harry, approaching his sister; "let me carry you."
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