"Keep it AMUSED! Amuse a starving brat!" tragically cried the man. "In
Heaven's name, how?"
"Why, play with it, cuddle it, give it your watch—anything! But don't allow it to cry—it may injure itself."
Branch glared resentfully; then he changed his tactics and began to plead. "Oh, Norine!" he implored. "I—just can't do it. I'm all fagged out now, and, besides, I've got the only watch in camp that keeps time. I didn't sleep any last night, and it'll keep me awake all to-night. It's a nice baby, really. It needs a woman—-"
Norine parted the flaps of her tent and pointed inside, where Esteban
Varona lay upon her cot. His eyes were staring; his lips were moving.
"Mrs. Ruiz and I will have our hands full with that poor chap. For all
we know, he may have some contagious disease."
Branch was utterly shameless, utterly selfish and uncompassionate. "I'm sick, too—sicker than he is. Have a heart! Remember, I risked my life to get you something nice to eat—-"
"Yes! The most ridiculous procedure I ever heard of. What ever made you do such a crazy thing?" Norine was honestly indignant now.
"I did it for you. It seems to me that the least you can do in return—-"
"The least, and the most, I can do is to try and save this poor man's life," she firmly reasserted. "Now run along. I'd take the baby if I could, but I simply can't."
"It'll die on me," Branch protested.
"Nonsense! It's the healthiest little thing I ever saw. Wait until it has its supper. You'll see." She disappeared into her tent and Branch reluctantly turned away.