All is well. Lie still, or your
wound will bleed. We are here, Father Orin and I. We will take care of
you. Only lie still."
Two horsemen were now in sight and they were spurring straight toward
Anvil Rock. While they were yet a long way off, Ruth felt, rather than
saw, that one of them was David. She told the priest who it was, and
they both knew that only a friend could be coming with the boy. Her
whole form relaxed under the relief. If Paul could but open his eyes, if
his breath would but come a little more quickly, and a little less
faintly! Her tears were falling on his still, white face, now that there
was no further need for self-control, or courage. She steadied her
voice, and told the story as clearly as she could, when Father Orin
asked again how she came to be in such a place, and what it was that had
led to the wounding of Paul Colbert.
While she was speaking the horsemen reached them, and they saw that the
man with David was the attorney-general. He hurriedly knelt down by his
friend's side. He did not ask what had happened. He had already gathered
much of the truth from what the boy had told him.
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