“Hal, dear,” Dorothea said firmly, thinking that he must be quieted, “you mustn’t talk, must you? Please go to sleep and don’t bother.”
This seemed to have the reverse of a soothing effect on the patient.
“I believe he’s captured,” Hal cried, excitedly, “and you’re all hiding it from me. And it will go hard with him, too. I must see about it. How long have I been here?” He started to raise himself from the bed. “Send for Big Jim,” he ordered. Dorothea was now half desperate.
“Hal,” she insisted sternly, “listen to me and try to understand what I tell you. Lee Hendon did not bring you home. Your Big Jim brought you. He told us so himself. He put you in a mule cart with a lop-eared mule and drove you here. You just dreamed it was Lee Hendon. And you will make yourself ill if you go on like this. He isn’t captured, that we know of, and besides the Yankees wouldn’t harm him if he is. He’ll be safe enough till after the war anyway. Don’t fret about him and go to sleep.”
The ghost of a smile appeared on Hal’s drawn and haggard face. Then he lay down quietly, evidently striving to gather strength against another encounter with this stubborn girl beside him, so that the next time he spoke Dorothea was impressed that what he said was not the result of delirium.
“You’re a good sort, Dee,” he began, “and I know I can trust you to keep a secret. Now please don’t think I’m out of my head because I’m not now, whatever I may have been. Listen, I owe Lee Hendon my life. Do you understand that?”
“Yes,” Dorothea answered.
“Good,” replied Hal. “Lee saved my life and brought me in here, no matter what that rascal Big Jim had to say about it. He saw Big Jim and recognized him, knowing that he was my body-servant. Well, it was Lee paid for the cart and saw to it that I landed safely here. Big Jim couldn’t possibly have managed it alone.”
“Are you sure, Hal?” Dorothea asked.
“Positive,” he replied firmly. “And he’s in a tight place, so I must see that he gets out of it. If he’s captured nothing can save him. He is in the Coulter Woods this minute waiting for word from me, and here I’ve been, lying on my back, doing nothing.”