“The stones? I don’t know where they are,” responded Lang. “No, he isn’t dead. He’s lost, or hidden them somewhere—Lord knows where.”
Morrison cursed. His eyes roved wildly.
“My God!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got to get them! Is he going to die? Can’t you revive him with a strong stimulant or something so that he can speak before he dies? Surely it’s possible?”
The situation was so exactly the reverse of the former one aboard the Cavite that Lang, in spite of his abstraction, could not refrain from a short laugh. Morrison did not see the point.
“Even if it kills him!” he insisted, reinforcing the analogy.
“Very likely he hid the emeralds shortly after I hit him in the leg,” said Lang. “Look here! I’ll show you what’s happened. My bullet went through his skull. He must have been knocked senseless by the shock, but he came to, and staggered some distance. Maybe he got rid of the stones then, and his gun, too, for I don’t see it. Then he became unconscious again, but not from the wound directly. A blood clot has formed on the surface of the brain where the bullet entered, and it’s that which is paralyzing him. He might survive the bullet wound.”
“What, right through the brain?” ejaculated the explorer.
“Oh, yes. It often happens. I suppose you’ve got some sort of medical or surgical kit aboard? You wouldn’t have a trephine, of course. Got a surgical saw? Any anæsthetics and disinfectants?”
“Six ounces of ether and a bottle of iodine,” responded Morrison. “I’ve got some forceps and scissors and sterilized cotton, and a very fine, sharp hack saw. What are you thinking of doing?”
“I’m going to operate,” said Lang decisively. “I’m going to remove that blood clot. It’ll restore consciousness almost surely, when he comes out of the anæsthetic, and there’s a good chance that he’ll recover. We can’t take him aboard. It would kill him. I’ll operate at my old camp. Help me carry him up there, and then go back to the boat and bring up your surgical kit, and a razor and soap and clean towels and basins and all the biggest kettles you have for heating water. Bring Eva—Miss Morrison along, too, if she has the nerve. I’ll need both of you to help.”