"Come outside then, if you can walk." He managed to reach the blazing fire, followed by Helen. And there the Doctor dressed the wound.
When the other men dragged out the dead animal before putting the place to order again, they were amazed at their discovery.
"Why, it's the big she-wolf!" Cummings exclaimed. "The mate of the old grey that was shot. What a desperate fight Manning must have had!"
"And his wife," echoed Sir George. "The wonder is that she retained her senses at all."
Harold's hurt was not a severe one. Fortunately it was but a dying snap, and the blood on his clothes was from the wolf. So he cleaned and changed them; and Helen with water and sponge refreshed herself too. Half an hour later they returned to their own wigwam. But the men had not been idle. They had made it over again; and they found their bunk as good as new. So after each had taken a glass of old wine, which Harold had fortunately brought with him, they once more retired to rest. The outside guards were changed, and soon the men of the troop were trying to sleep again, in preparation for the next day's march.
CHAPTER XV.
Notwithstanding the exciting disturbances of the night, to both men and beasts, the troops were up by daylight. Breakfast was over, the camp was struck, and all were ready to march before the sun in the clear winter sky was much above the horizon. During the last of the preparations, Helen, wrapped in her furs, was seated on a log by one of the fires. While waiting for Harold she was busy jotting down notes in a scrap book that lay on her knee.
"Well, dearie!" he exclaimed, as he joined her with a slight limp. "We start in ten minutes. Are you quite ready? But what is this you are doing?"
"Just scribbling a bit," she replied. "Commencing my diary. And how is the leg? It must hurt you."
"Only a little. The Doctor has dressed it again. He says it is a mere trifle. The thick folds of my trousers saved me from a bite that might have been serious. So you are turning historian, are you? Commencing, I suppose, with a thrilling tale of adventure."