“Yes: two of ’em; they’ve pulled uz round wonderful. You frightened me horrid, master, the way you went on, and just when I was most bad. You made me feel it was all my fault, and I couldn’t zleep for thinking that if you died I’d killed you. But I zay, master, you won’t die now, will you?”
“How absurd!” said Nic, with a weak laugh. “Of course not. Why should I die now?”
“Ah, why indeed, when you’re getting better?”
There was another silence before Nic began again.
“I’ve been wondering,” he said, “why it is that we can be going round the salmon-pool like this, and yet be lying here talking about the doctor and being bad.”
“Ay, ’tis rum, sir.”
“Yes, it puzzles me. Look here; didn’t we have a fight with you and your men to-night?”
“We had a big fight, sir; but it waren’t to-night.”
“But it’s quite dark still, and I suppose it’s my head being giddy that makes me feel that we’re going up and down.”
“Oh no, it aren’t, zir,” said the man, laughing; “we’re going up and down bad enough. Not zo bad as we have been.”