“It hurts very little. I had no idea shot was so painless.”
They had come to the crossing-place over the stream; Von Tressen, going first and stepping backwards, handed her safely across.
“Take care,” he warned her midway. “I slipped on that stone myself just now.”
“You did not fall in?”
“I saved myself at the expense of a wet foot.”
She looked at him in a little amused commiseration. “How uncomfortable you must be! Do not let me keep you. I had rather lost my bearings, but if you can tell me the point to make for I can easily find my way home.”
He laughed. “I should have felt infinitely more uncomfortable if I left you now. I had really forgotten my damp boot. I hope my company is not offensive to you as, after all my folly, I fear it ought to be.”
“Oh, no,” she answered. “I am not vindictive enough to send you away.”
“Then you have forgiven me?”
“For what? I brought the accident on myself. I was tired and hot and thought it would be pleasant to lie down among the cool rushes and paddle my hand in the water, forgetting I ran the risk of being taken for a water-fowl or water-rat. There is nothing to forgive.”