"Oh, thank you," said Chillingworth. "I am much better; but I have had some hard bruises."
"How did it happen?"
"I went by myself to watch in the room where the picture was in Bannerworth Hall."
"Where the picture was!" said Henry; "where it is, you mean, do you not, doctor?"
"No; where it was, and where it is not now."
"Gone!"
"Yes, gone away; I'll tell you all about it. I went there to watch, but found nobody or nothing there; but suddenly a man stepped out from behind the picture, and we had a fight over it; after which, just as I was getting the worst of it, Jack Pringle came in."
"The dog!" muttered the admiral.
"Yes, he came in just in time, I believe, to save my life; for the man, whoever he was, would not have hesitated about it."
"Well, Jack is a good man," said the admiral; "there may be worse, at least."