THE TEXAX HUS^TRESS. 315 



dim — ^her face deathly p»le, and dropping her rifle to the 

 floor, she fell upon the body, clutching it conTolsively about 

 the neck. 



Now came the time for me to repay, in some measure at 

 least, the kindness of this singular couple. They both lay 

 stretched upon the floor insensible, and apparently dead. It 

 was a horrid sight — for a moment I was stupefied as I gazed 

 upon them — ^but the last few moments, in thoroughly rousing 

 my whole life to new sensations, had learned me a stem lesson 

 in presence of mind. I sprang first for some water, and 

 dashed it into the faces of the motionless pair, and then 

 kneeling beside them, rubbed their hands and feet with all 

 my strength. It was but a little time before I convinced 

 myself that neither one of them was yet dead. This relieved 

 and encouraged me greatly, so that I urged my efforts to 

 resuscitate them, and, after a few minutes more, commenced 

 examining the old man's body, to find and staunch the wound. 



I had seen no blood as yet, and therefore supposed it must, 

 of course, bleed internally, and consequently be fatal. What 

 was my hopeful surprise to find that it was apparently a 

 graze-shot — as the ball had ploughed up the flesh along the 

 hinder part of the neck near the base of the skull ; and as it 

 was, evidently, not deep when I probed it with my finger, I 

 came to the conclusion that the bone had been merely indented 

 — ^not shattered — and that the spinal chord had been more 

 paralyzed by the shock than seriously injured. Warmed still 

 more pleasantly by this discovery, I rapidly staunched the 

 blood, which had been running down inside the collar of his 

 buckskin coat, and was, therefore, not visible. 



The wound of the woman was bleeding profusely. I soon 

 found that it consisted of an ugly flesh wound in the right 

 arm, which passed through into the breast, hot whether into 

 the chest or not I could only conjecture — but hoped for the 

 best, as I saw it, too, bled externally and freelj. I staunched 

 the wounds as weU as my poor skiU in surge-ry would admit. 



