sententiously. "Come over here by the window! Now you are to do exactly
what I tell you. Understand? Put your own judgment in abeyance. Yes, I
know it's bleeding; but you needn't shudder like that. Give me your
hand!" She gave it, trembling. He held it firmly, looking straight into
her quivering face. "We won't proceed," he said, "until you have quite
recovered your self-control, or you may go and slit a large vein, which
would be awkward for us both. Just stand still and pull yourself
together."

She found herself obliged to obey. The shrewd green eyes watched her
mercilessly, and under their unswerving regard her agitation gradually
died down.

"That's better," he said at length, and released her hand. "Now see what
you can do."

It seemed to Olga later that he took so keen an interest in the
operation as to be quite insensible of the pain it involved. She obeyed
his instructions herself with a set face and a quaking heart,
suppressing a sick shudder from time to time, finally achieving the
desired end with a face so ghastly that the victim of her efforts
laughed outright.

"Whom are you most sorry for, yourself or me?" he wanted to know. "I
say, please don't faint till you have bandaged me up! I can't attend to
you properly if you do, and I shall probably spill blood over you and
make a beastly mess."

Again his insistence carried the day. Olga bandaged the torn hand
without a murmur.