Dr. McMurtrie and the dark girl were standing by my bedside, looking
down at me.

I blinked at them for a moment, wondering in my half-awake state where
the devil I had got to. Then suddenly it all came back to me.

"Well," said the doctor smoothly, "and how is the patient today?"

I stretched myself with some care. I was still pretty stiff, and my
throat felt as if some one had been scraping it with sand-paper, but
all the same I knew that I was better--much better.

"I don't think there's any serious damage," I said hoarsely. "How long
have I been asleep?"

He looked at his watch. "As far as I remember, you went to sleep
in your bath soon after midnight. It's now four o'clock in the
afternoon."

I started up in bed. "Four o'clock!" I exclaimed. "Good Lord! I must
get up--I--"

He laid his hand on my shoulder. "Don't be foolish, my friend," he
said. "You will get up when you are fit to get up. At the present
moment you are going to have something to eat." He turned to the girl.
"What are you thinking of giving him?" he asked.

"There are plenty of eggs," she said, "and there's some of that fish
we had for breakfast." She answered curtly, almost rudely, looking at