He answered obstinately: “You’d better go.”
“I’ll make you comfortable first,” she returned.
He made an enormous effort, and then, with her quick help and with his back to her knee, had raised himself on his elbows.
“Build a fire.”
“Wood?”
“Down there.”
“Two bits of wood tied on my leg—splints. Then I can drag myself. See? Like a blessed old walrus.”
He smiled and she kissed his bandaged face again.
“Else it hurts,” he apologized, “more than I can stand.”