"Captain Lawton!" exclaimed the surgeon, as he beheld the trooper
leaning on the arm of his subaltern, and with difficulty crossing the
threshold.
"Ah! my dear bonesetter, is it you? You are here very fortunately to
inspect my carcass; but do lay aside that rascally saw!"
A few words from Mason explained the nature and manner of his captain's
hurts, and Miss Peyton cheerfully accorded the required accommodations.
While the room intended for the trooper was getting ready, and the
doctor was giving certain portentous orders, the captain was invited to
rest himself in the parlor. On the table was a dish of more substantial
food than ordinarily adorned the afternoon's repast, and it soon caught
the attention of the dragoons. Miss Peyton, recollecting that they had
probably made their only meal that day at her own table, kindly invited
them to close it with another. The offer required no pressing, and in a
few minutes the two were comfortably seated, and engaged in an
employment that was only interrupted by an occasional wry face from the
captain, who moved his body in evident pain. These interruptions,
however, interfered but little with the principal business in hand; and
the captain had got happily through with this important duty, before the
surgeon returned to announce all things ready for his accommodation in
the room above stairs.
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