Mangan looked straight in front of him, as became a mortgagee of
delicate feeling, and said with some elaborateness, "No man need be
anxious about money whose security is Irish land, nowadays. 'Tis daily
appressiating in value."
"To every man except the owner!"
Dick struck hard with his ash-plant at a tall weed as he spoke, and
decapitated it with the grace and dexterity of the old cavalryman. He
put force enough into the cut to have felled a tougher foe.
"This place is turned into a wilderness--" he went on and then,
staggering, caught at the Doctor's thick arm.
In an instant the Big Doctor had his other arm round Dick's shoulders,
and held him firm.
"Stand still, Major, it's nothing! You'll be all right in a minute!"
he said, meeting Dick's frightened eyes with reassuring steadiness.
"The sun's very hot. It's only a touch of giddiness--"
He stood, a great rock of support, uttering leisurely words of
consolation, while he quietly slipped one hand down the Major's arm,
until his broad, perceptive finger-tips could feel the faint pulse
jerking under their pressure.
Dick's colour crept back, and the veins, that had shown blue on the
sudden yellow of his cheek, began to lose their vividness.
"That's more like it!" said the Doctor, tranquilly. "Do you sit quite
here for a minute, now, and I'll go get you a drop of something from
our friend, Mr.
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