Hillyer shook his head dubiously.
“It’s impossible to say just yet. Doctor Norris fears that the pancreas is ruptured. In that case––” He shrugged his shoulders. “At any rate, the pancreas and the stomach are temporarily paralyzed by the blow of the saddle horn––the horse seems to have gone over backward on him. If he gets over the shock there’s still the danger of inflammation. There ought to be ice packs. Cold water will have to do. They must be changed every minute. Doctor Norris told me––” He paused to look intently at Claire––“Doctor Norris told me that nothing but the most careful nursing can save him.”
“Let the Chinaman do it!” Huntington blurted out.
Hillyer shook his head.
“No. Norris says he will not trust him. You see, Haig’s pleading for water must be denied. He can command the Chinaman, and that––Besides, all this is not to the point. Marion has made up her mind, and I assure you––Please get the things she asks for, Mrs. Huntington.”
“You don’t mean you’re going to take them!” shouted Huntington.
“Certainly. She’s asked for them.”
“And you’re going to let her stay there––with him?”
Hillyer smiled. Having abandoned all hope of assistance from Huntington, he was thinking of other measures, and was scarcely as attentive as he might have been to the increasing truculence of his host.