Then I began to realise what a really awkward matter it was likely to be to have a girl, and such a girl, quartered upon us. I was not by any means sure of my own men, even. They had been chosen by the guide; but even he had deemed them so worthless and unreliable that he had gone off that morning in search of others. Without him my position was very grave. He was already a couple of hours overdue; and with this storm coming up it was long odds that he would not arrive until the next morning at the earliest.
Still the thing had to be faced. I must take my chance in the tent with the men that night, and trust to my own authority and vigilance and wits.
I went back to the cottage, and was alarmed to find the girl still unconscious; so I got some brandy, and supporting her head managed to get a few drops between her lips. This soon had an effect, and after a repetition of the remedy she opened her eyes with a deep, long-drawn sigh, and gave a great start as she found me bending over her and herself on the bed in the hut.
“It’s all right,” I said, soothingly. “You fainted, probably from exhaustion and the fright you had, and I brought you here. It was the only thing I could do. You are perfectly safe, and the best thing you can do is to be quiet until you can eat something. As soon as you’re well enough I’ll find you a horse and send you wherever you want to go.”
She listened very quietly, and smiled. A rare thing, that smile of hers.
“I want you to feel you can trust me. I am not that brigand, Bourgwan, or any other brigand, as it happens; although my name is sufficiently like his to cause you to make the mistake you did about it. It’s all very rough here; but it’s the best we can do for you. Now, do you think you can feel safe enough to eat and drink something without believing we mean to poison you?”
“Don’t.” It was only a whisper, but it was good hearing.
“I’ve had to give you a little brandy. Here’s some more, if you’ll like it; and I can get you some preserved milk and biscuits presently. Shall I leave you alone here?”
The light had gone as the storm gathered; and just as I spoke the storm burst right overhead with a flare of lightning that filled the small room with lurid light, followed by a deafening clap of thunder which seemed almost to shake the earth until the hut trembled.
But she showed no fear of the storm; so that I gathered she was used to the violence with which they raged in that district. She sat staring out of the one narrow window wistfully and disconsolately.