“Where am I?” he hoarsely questioned.
“You will remember it yourself in a minute or two,” cheerfully replied Henri. “Take a brace, cap., and you’ll be going again like a top before the supper bell rings.”
“Now I have it,” cried the victim of the jarring fall; “we were just closing in on that wild man when he jumped onto the derrick. Why are we not at the wharf to stop that boat?”
“Take it easy, cap.,” cajoled Henri; “you’ve had a bit of a tumble, but you’ll be there on time. Don’t worry.”
The policeman raised himself on his elbows, fired by a spirit averse to delay, twisted himself about, and succeeded in making a back rest against the chimney.
“What has become of the other boy?” was his next inquiry.
“Gone for a doctor or anybody else that he can pick up in a pinch,” advised Henri. “But you can see for yourself—here he comes now.”
Billy was accompanied by a tall, slender man with a clean-shaven face, swinging a leather case in his hand in the usual professional way, and indicating readiness for any surgical or remedial emergency.
Bringing up the rear were two policemen in uniform and a short-legged apothecary from the nearest drug store.
The company entire sounded a note of recognition when they saw the injured man sitting at the foot of the chimney base.