“I should have burned it, but perhaps he liked it.”

“He did, sir. Will you try to go to sleep now?”

“If you had a shoulder on fire and aching as mine does, you wouldn’t ask such a ridiculous question,” answered Jack snappishly.

“I’m sorry, sir. Is there aught I can do?”

“You can change the bandages, if you like. These are prodigious hot and uncomfortable.”

Without another word Salter set about easing his master, and he was so painstaking and so careful not to hurt the ugly wound, and his face expressed so much concern, that Carstares controlled a desire to swear when he happened to touch a particularly tender spot, and at the end rewarded him with a smile and a sigh of content.

“That is much better,” he said. “You have such a light touch, Jim.”