But Thad was satisfied that they were going to escape, for the main body of fire had already gone rushing away before the wind. Only straggling trailers worked in behind the pond, and they were already feeling the effect of the rain that was now falling heavily, though at other places it must have taken the form of snow.
Jim was apparently more or less anxious about Cale. He feared the old man might have received serious injuries that needed attention; and taking advantage of the first opportunity that presented itself, he confided his fears to Thad, knowing full well that the boy was something of a doctor, in his way.
So the scoutmaster sat down beside Cale. He saw that the other was getting back to something like his normal self, now that he had in a measure recovered from the exhaustion resulting from his fight for life with the flames.
“Did you get badly hurt anywhere, in the fire?” Thad asked, trying to put on a professional look, so as to inspire some confidence in the old man.
The giant for the first time, seemed to wake up. He felt of his head, and winced a little as though it pained him.
“Ther burns they don’t amount ter much,” he said, in his heavy voice; “but thar be a bad bump on my head as hurts sum.”
“Let me look at it,” asked the boy. “I’ve picked up some knowledge of medicine, and perhaps I can do something to make it seem better; if nothing else, cold water may reduce the feverish feeling some.”
And Cale allowed him to examine his big head, with its mass of hair that was like a lion’s mane in thickness, having been protected from the fire by the skin cap he wore. Perhaps it was the presence of that same cap, as also the shock of hair, that had saved Cale from having a broken skull; he certainly did have a lump there as large as an egg, that must have been very painful; and it was no wonder he had seemed dazed at the time he rushed into his cabin, hardly knowing why he came there, unless he had been laboring under the impression that Little Lina was still waiting to be saved from the fire.
Fortunately Thad happened to be carrying a little bottle of witch hazel in his haversack, which he often found exceedingly useful. This he got out, and after warning the other that it might sting a little at first, he poured some of the extract on the lump; and then wetting a piece of rag with it, he laid this over the wound, Cale’s cap holding it in place.
“That’s all I can do for you,” Thad said. “But it’s not a serious thing, and in a few days you’ll be all over it. But you must have had a fearful knock. Was it a limb that fell on you?”