“Yes, certainly,” assented the girl, “you may enter it at once, if you wish, Mr Leslie. I have tidied it up myself this morning, and intend to do so regularly in future; it will provide me with something to do. But you spoke of Captain Potter’s indisposition. Is he unwell, then?”
“Why, yes,” said Leslie; “he appears to be. The fact is, that he has not yet recovered from the blow that he received yesterday evening when he forced upon me the disagreeable necessity to disarm him. He has lain unconscious the whole night through, without moving so much as a muscle, so far as one can see; and, to tell you the whole truth, Purchas and I are beginning to feel more than a trifle uneasy about him. Hence my request for permission to have access to the medicine-chest.”
“Oh dear, I am so sorry,” exclaimed the girl, a note of concern at once entering her voice. “Pray go at once, Mr Leslie, I beg, and do whatever you may deem necessary. I hope it will not prove that the captain is seriously injured; it will be so—so—very—embarrassing for you.”
“Well,” answered Leslie, “of course I should be very sorry if, as you say, anything serious were to happen; but, even so, the man will only have himself to thank for it.”
And, with this attempt to justify himself, Leslie raised his cap again, and vanished down the companion-way.
As his footsteps sounded on the companion ladder, Purchas emerged from the cabin occupied by Potter, and joined him.