“Eh? What did I do?”

“You lay so still!”

“Did I? Oh, of course. I’ve been very fast asleep, I suppose. What time it is—nearly sundown?”

“No, it’s morning—sunrise.”

“I’m blessed! What, have I slept all night?”

West nodded and smiled.

“Soundly, I suppose!” he said. “But how are you?”

“Horribly stupid and muddled! I don’t quite make out! Oh yes, I do now. I came down such a quelch that it knocked all the sense out of me, and my head feels all knocked on one side. But tell me: what about the despatch?”

“I have it all right so far!”

“That’s good. Where are our ponies?”