She nodded emphatically, unable to find breath to speak.
"Out of my way! I will go at once!"
He picked up his hat, dashed through the door and down the path towards the jetty. A boat lay moored alongside a lugger. He sprang into it, had cast her loose, and was sculling madly in the direction of the township before Mrs. Fenwick had time to wonder what had become of him. In a quarter of an hour he was ringing the medico's bell, and in half an hour they were back together at the station. As they approached the house the doctor stopped and looked at his companion.
"My friend," said he, "if I were you I should go for a long walk or a row. Don't come back for at least two hours. You can do nothing here, and you will only be in the way. If you stay I shall have you on my hands next."
Ellison looked at him as if he would like to argue the point with him.
"Man, man!" he said viciously, "you don't know the state I'm in. If anything happens to that woman it will kill me."
"I know, I know! I've had the same feeling myself. It's very commendable—very. But——"
"Oh, d—— your sentimental twaddle! No! no! Forgive my rudeness, you can see I'm not myself at all."
"That's why I order you to go for a row. Now be off, and don't let me see your face again for hours. Your wife will be quite safe in my hands."
"God grant she may be!"