"No; there's nothing you can do just now, but I'm afraid we'll have our hands full later if—Go and scrape some lint," he broke off abruptly, "and make some coffee. Get the other women to help you."
Here the Lieutenant passed them, without seeming to see them, and she followed him with a guilty feeling in her heart.
When she entered her own house, she found her mother there, scraping lint and making bandages, while a pot of strong coffee was already steaming on the hearth and piles of cut bread were stacked upon the table.
"This is all we can do, dear," said Mrs. Mackenzie.
"Let me help you, mother—I'll get some more old linen."
Mrs. Franklin came in with her arms full of white cloth, which she tore into strips and wound tightly, ready for immediate use. They worked by the light of a single candle, and the three loaded pistols lay on the table in front of them.
"If we sleep to-night," said the Captain's wife at length, without pausing in her task, "I'll take Miss Manning and Mrs. Burns, when the boys come back."
"Mother and the children can stay here," said Katherine; "but I haven't room for any more."
"That's all right," answered Mrs. Mackenzie. "The men can go to the barracks."