Also his jaw is broken, because the horse kicked him as he lay. For
the same reason he is stunned, and cannot move much. It is a bad
case altogether," and he grinned with glee at his own pleasantry.
Then they fitted a long splint to my right leg from hip to ankle,
so that I was helpless as a babe in its swaddlings, and made fast
the other leg to that. They did not do more than loosen the cords
that bound me just enough to suffer them to pass the bandages round
until the splint was on, and the other men stood in a ring and
gibed at me all the time. After that they bandaged my right arm
across my chest as if for a slipped shoulder, but under the
bandages were cords that pinioned my elbows to one another across
my back, so that I could only move my left forearm. Evan said that
he would tie that also if need was, but it might pass now. I could
not reach my mouth with this free hand, if I did try to take out a
gag.
Next they bandaged my head and chin carefully, so that only my eyes
were to be seen. I suppose that I might be thankful that they left
my mouth uncovered more or less. And Evan said that he would gag me
by and by.
"No need to discomfort him more than this now," he added. "Maybe he
will be ready to promise silence when he has gone some time in this
rig."
By this time some had caught half a dozen hill ponies, and on them
they loaded several bales of goods, which I thought looked like
those of some robbed chapman, and I have reason to think that they
were such.
Pages:
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131