Gordon took himself away, wondering what she could have meant by that; and Laura waited until next day, when, although there was, as usual, a good deal to be done about the ranch, she went down to find out what was the matter with Nasmyth.
The injured man was sitting in his shanty, with his foot upon a chair, but he rose when she came in, and stood leaning rather hard upon the table.
“It is very kind of you to come,” he said, taking her hand. He made shift to limp to the door, whence he called for Mattawa.
“Bring those two chairs out, Tom, and put them in the sun,” he said.
The old axeman shook his head severely. “You sit right down again. What in the name of wonder are you on your legs for, any way?” he asked. Then he saw Laura, and made a little gesture of resignation. “Well, I guess it will have to be done.”
The sudden change in his attitude was naturally not lost upon the girl, but she kept her astonishment to herself, and waited until Mattawa had made Nasmyth as comfortable as possible. Then she turned to him.
“I am very sorry you are hurt,” she said. “I understand it was an axe cut. How did it happen?”
Nasmyth appeared to reflect. “Well,” he answered, “I suppose I was a little careless––in fact, I must have been. You see, some of the building gang had left their axes in the dynamo-room.”
“That,” said Laura dryly, “certainly accounts for the axe being there. I’m not sure it goes very much further.”
“It really wasn’t very much of a cut.” Nasmyth’s 87 desire to escape from the topic was a trifle too plain, as he added, “Isn’t it nice out here?”