The Mountain Girl by Emma Payne Erskine Chapter 19 Page 18

“And then — tell me all the blessed truth — and then — ”

“You were bleeding — bleeding — and I took off your clothes — and I saw where you were bleeding your life away, and I tied my dress around you. I tore it in pieces and wound it all around you as well as I could, and then I put your coat back on you, and still you didn’t waken. It seemed as if you had stopped breathing. And then I saw the bruise on your head, and I thought maybe you were only stunned. I brought water from the branch and put your head on the wet cloth and bound it all around, but still you looked like he had killed you, and then — ” he stirred in her arms to feel their clasp.

“And then — then — ”