Chester's only reply was a look at Lucilla that seemed to say that nothing could be too costly if done for her.
"And, oh, what a debt of gratitude I owe you!" she exclaimed. "I can never repay it."
"Dearest, I would give my life for yours at any time," he responded.
The words and the look that accompanied them were a revelation to Lucilla. The look of a moment before had surprised her, and raised a question in her mind as to just what she was to him; but there was no mistaking this. He loved her; loved her well enough to die in her stead.
But the men were at hand with the cot, and under the captain's direction the wounded man was lifted carefully and tenderly, laid upon it, and carried to the house, the captain on his horse, and Lucilla on her pony, following closely.
In the meantime Violet and Christine had made ready a bed in the room occupied by Captain Raymond at the time of his injury from being thrown by Thunderer, and there they laid Chester, just as Drs. Arthur Conly and Harold Travilla arrived, having come with all possible haste at the summons sent by the captain.
Violet, Lucilla, and Grace, seated on the veranda, anxiously awaited the doctors' verdict.
It was Harold who brought it at length.
"The wound is a serious one," he said in reply to their looks of earnest inquiry; "but we have succeeded in removing the ball, and do not by any means despair of his life."
"Oh, I hope he will recover," sobbed Lucilla; "for if he does not, I shall always feel that he has given his life for mine."