Cautiously she sat down on the ground and lifted the man's head to her lap. He groaned again faintly, and opened his eyes. They were large and dark. For a moment there was only pain in their depths; then, gradually, there came a look of profound amazement.
"Where am I?" he asked feebly.
"Sh! Don't talk. You are on the prairie. You must have got hurt, some way."
He tried to move, and groaned again.
"Please be still," begged Cordelia. "You'll make things worse. We've sent for help, and they'll be here right away."
The man closed his eyes now. He did not speak again.
It seemed a long time, but it was really a very short one, before Genevieve came with Carlos and Pedro and one of the ranch wagons. The man groaned again, and grew frightfully white when they lifted him carefully into the wagon. Then he fainted. He was still unconscious when they reached the ranch house.