Ben pointed it out to him, and he went to the door.
He knocked, and Rodney Shaw said angrily,—
'Come in. There is no occasion for you to knock, Nix. I have not had a wink of sleep for hours.'
'You will have plenty of sleep shortly,' said Jim Dennis, entering the room.
Rodney Shaw lay on his bed and stared with glassy eyes at the speaker. He felt as though his last hour was at hand, and he wished he could rise and fight for his life. He could not move without causing intense pain, and there he lay, helpless, at the mercy of his bitterest enemy.
Jim Dennis strode up to the bedside and shook him roughly.
'Get up and answer for your sins, you black-hearted scoundrel!' he said in a voice of suppressed passion. 'No shamming sick with me, remember. Stand up and fight for your life like a man—Heaven forgive me for calling you one!'
Rodney Shaw groaned.
'I am wounded,' he said. 'I have been shot.'
'Where?' asked Jim Dennis. 'Show me the wound.'