He wavered so weakly that Ralph braced an arm behind to support him.
"Steady now!" said the doctor, touching his patient with a prodding finger to attract his attention. "Who are you, my friend?"
The boy stared blankly at him as he caught the sound of his voice, and then at the three boys. He did not smile, and there was a peculiarly vacant expression on his face.
Then he moved his lips as if his throat was parched and stiff, and said huskily:
"Hungry."
The doctor shrugged his shoulders, puzzled and amused. Ralph himself half-smiled. The demand was so distinctively human it cheered him.
The patient kept looking around as if expecting food to be brought to him. The young physician studied him silently. Then he projected half a dozen quick, sharp questions. His patient did not even appear to hear him. He looked reproachfully about him, and again spoke:
"Fried perch would be pretty good!"
"He must be about half-starved, poor fellow!" observed Will. "Doctor, he acts all right, only desperately hungry. Maybe a good square meal will fix him out all right?"
The doctor moved towards the door, and beckoned Ralph there.