夜雨聆风At the same moment, however, the Colonel’s attention was diverted by amovement on the far slope.
‘Damn, there’s a rabbit nibbling the bark of those young fruit trees.
Thought I’d wired the place.’
He raised the rifle and fired, and as I saw –There was a scream in a woman’s voice. It died in a kind of horriblegurgle.
The rifle fell from the Colonel’s hand, his body sagged – he caught hislip.
‘My God – it’s Daisy.’
I was already running across the lawn. Norton came behind me. Ireached the spot and knelt down. It was Mrs Luttrell. She had been kneel-ing, tying a stake against one of the small fruit trees. The grass was longthere so that I realized how it was that the Colonel had not seen herclearly and had only distinguished movements in the grass. The light toowas confusing. She had been shot through the shoulder and the blood wasgushing out.
I bent to examine the wound and looked up at Norton. He was leaningagainst a tree and was looking green and as though he were going to besick. He said apologetically: ‘I can’t stand blood.’
I said sharply: ‘Get hold of Franklin at once. Or the nurse.’
He nodded and ran off.
It was Nurse Craven who appeared first upon the scene. She was therein an incredibly short time and at once set about in a business-like way tostop the bleeding. Franklin arrived at a run soon afterwards. Betweenthem they got her into the house and to bed: Franklin dressed and band-aged the wound and sent for her own doctor and Nurse Craven stayedwith her.
I ran across Franklin just as he left the telephone.
