"In no way better," I said, finding my tongue at length. "She has gone to the village. But where have you been!"
"In a long hole just over here," he answered. "But how long has she been gone?"
"How long do you think that you have been in your hole?"
"A few minutes. It cannot be long. Yet it must have been longer than I thought, for the shadows are changed."
It was a full hour and a half since he fell, but I did not say so, lest it should be some sort of shock to him. So I bade him sit down while I saw to a cut there was on his head--the only sign of hurt that he had.
"I thought that I was done for at first," he said.
"So thought I, until we found that you were not at the bottom. Even now some of us have gone for ropes that we might search the cliff for you. We could not see you anywhere, and there does not seem to be any ledge here that could catch you."
"Why, you could have touched me with a spear all the time, if you had known where to thrust it. I think I fainted, or somewhat foolish of the sort. My head hit the rock as I went over. Also the horse ground me between it and the cliff, so that all my breath went. But that pushed me into the hole, and I will not grumble. At least, I think that was it, but I cannot be sure. My senses went."
He began to laugh, but suddenly turned to me with a new look on his face.
"Oh, but was Elfrida feared for me?--What did she think?"