He stopped, and shut his eyes. Then, when Sarah Jane hoped that he slept, her father spoke again.
"The other thing is my knife—the famous one wi' the ivory handle and long, narrer blade, that I use when I do my chemical work. It have a history. My uncle fetched it from a foreign land, and it be made of a steel called Damascus—the best in the world; and there's gold letters let into it in a foreign tongue. 'Tis in the works, along with a few other things, Sarah Jane. My watch be there—not that 'tis any use, for it haven't gone for a year. Still, if the worst comes, I'd like little Greg to have 'em from me—also the shares in the Company. He'll live to see them a useful bit of money. And the rest must go to you and Dan."
"Don't—don't be talking. You've got to get well again quick," she said. Then she took away his plaster and brought another hot from the saucepan.
"A great invention," he said. "A great invention. If I'm spared, the thing shall be known far and wide afore long."
He dozed between fits of coughing, and moved uneasily in a semi-dream. Then came the sound of a galloping horse, and Sarah hastened to the door.
"Can't be doctor yet, unless by happy fortune Dan ran across him," she said.
But it was not the doctor. The bearded and grave countenance of Mr. Henry Norseman met Sarah Jane's eyes.
"Just met Brendon," he explained, "and hearing that Mr. Friend was in peril, I come up so hard as my hoss would go, to see if I could comfort him. I've been light at more death-beds than one in my time, including my own father's, and often a word helps the wanderer in the Valley."
"He'm not in the Valley, or anywheres near it," answered the woman stoutly. "But come in by all means. If you could bide with him a little, I'll look about, and set his living chamber in order, and try to make an egg pudding for him."
Mr. Norseman, who knew Gregory and his daughter but slightly, now dismounted, tethered his horse, and presently sat by the sufferer; while Sarah Jane, glad of the opportunity, worked hard to make the dismal hole that was her father's home a little clean and a little comfortable.