"Yes, that's so," he asserted, in that calm, confident drawl of his. "And that brings me round to what I've been wanting to say to you. I don't want to deprive you of anything worth having, but I am wanting--real badly--to make a sound man of Bunny as soon as may be. Reckon you're wanting that too?"
Her heart gave a thick, hard throb. "Of course," she said rather breathlessly.
"Yes, of course," agreed Jake imperturbably. "Well, I had a letter last night from Capper, one of the biggest surgeons in the world. I had the good luck to do him a small service, once, and he can't somehow forget it. Now he's coming to England in a few weeks, and he'll look me up. I've told him about Bunny, and he's sort of interested. Say, Maud, it would be a mighty big thing to let him examine the little chap and see what he thinks."
Maud's face was very pale. She walked in silence.
Jake glanced at her. "You'd be afraid?" he suggested.
"I don't know," she said, in that same breathless tone. "It--it seems rather soon. And suppose--suppose he failed!"
"My dear," Jake said gently. "Capper won't fail. He'll either tackle the job and carry it through, or he won't attempt it. That's the sort of man he is."
Maud dropped back into silence. The road at this point was somewhat steep, and she was gasping for breath.
Suddenly Jake reached out, took her hand, and pulled it through his arm. "All right, my girl, all right!" he said kindly. "We won't hustle any. I shan't say another word to Bunny on the subject till you have made up your mind what you'd like done. Now you lean on me! I'll pull you up."
She did not want to lean on him, but for some reason she could not at once withdraw her hand. They mounted the hill side by side.