stumbling over a round and mossy rock, measured his length upon the
ground, amid his own oaths at his mishap, and the exclamations of the man
immediately in his rear, whose progress he had thus unceremoniously
blocked. The horse of the fallen man, startled by the dragging at the
reins, reared and plunged, and in a moment the entire column was in
disorder. When the frightened animals were at last quieted, and the line
re-formed, the Governor called out to know who it was that had fallen, and
whether any damage had been suffered.

"It was Mr. Haward, sir!" cried two or three; and presently the injured
gentleman himself, limping painfully, and with one side of his fine green
coat all stained by reason of contact with a bit of muddy ground, appeared
before his Excellency.

"I have had a cursed mishap,--saving your presence, sir," he explained.
"The right ankle is, I fear, badly sprained. The pain, is exquisite, and I
know not how I am to climb mountains."

The Governor uttered an exclamation of concern: "Unfortunate! Dr. Robinson
must look to the hurt at once."

"Your Excellency forgets my dispute with Dr. Robinson as to the dose of
Jesuit bark for my servant," said the sufferer blandly. "Were I _in
extremis_ I should not apply to him for relief."

"I'll lay my life that you are not _in extremis_ now," retorted the
doctor. "If ever I saw a man with a sprained ankle keep his color so
marvelously, or heard him speak in so composed a tone! The pain must be of
a very unusual degree indeed!"