“I’m savage because you are hurt. I can’t stand it to see you suffer!” and with lips compressed, he bandaged the wound with some strips torn from the sheet. Then he ran his fingers down over the calf, and brought them away stained with blood. He caught up his knife and ripped the cloth clear down.
“Really,” she protested, “I shall not have any clothing left, if you keep on like that! I do not see how I am going to appear in public as it is!”
He grimly washed the blood away without replying. On either side of the calf, he found a tiny black spot where the second bullet had passed through.
“These German bullets seem to be about the size of peas,” he remarked, as he bandaged the leg; then he raised his head and listened, as the firing outside rose to a furious crescendo. “They’re at it again!” he added. “We must be getting out of this!”
She reached up, caught him by the coat, and drew him down to her.
“Listen,” she said. “The letters are in your pocket. Should we be separated——”
“We will not be separated,” he broke in, impatiently. “Do you suppose I would permit anything to separate us now?”
“I know, dear one,” she said, softly. “But if we should be, you will carry the letters to General Joffre? Oh, do not hesitate!” she cried. “Promise me! They mean so much to me—my life’s work—all my ambitions—all my hopes——”
“Very well,” he said. “I promise.”
“You have not forgotten the sign and the formula?”