"Hello, Ralph Penlogan!" he said, rushing forward, "what is the meaning of this?"
"She got thrown from her horse up against Treliskey Plantation," he answered. "Do you know who she is?"
"Of course I know who she is!" was the quick reply. "Don't you know?"
"No. I never saw her before. Do you think she will recover?"
"Has she been unconscious all the time?" the doctor asked, placing his fingers on her wrist.
"No; she's come to once or twice. I thought at first she was dead. There's a big cut on her head, which has bled a good deal."
"She must be got home instantly," was the reply. "Help me to get her into the carriage at once!"
It was an easy task for the two men. Dorothy had relapsed into complete unconsciousness again. Very carefully they propped her up in a corner of the brougham, while the doctor took his place by her side.
Ralph would have liked to ride with them. He rather resented Dr. Barrow taking his place. He had a notion that nobody could support the unconscious girl so tenderly as himself.
There was no help for it, however. He had to get out of the carriage and leave the two together.
"Tell William," said the doctor, "to drive round to the surgery before going on to Hamblyn Manor."
"To Hamblyn Manor?" Ralph questioned, with a look of perplexity in his eyes as he stood at the carriage door.
"From up the country--no. Do you mean to say you've lived here all your life and don't know Miss Hamblyn?"
"But she is only a girl," Ralph said, looking at the white face that was leaning against the doctor's shoulder.
"I fear this will mean the postponement of the marriage," he said.
"The doctor says you must drive round to the surgery before going on to Hamblyn Manor," he said, speaking to the coachman, and then he stood back and watched the carriage move away.
It seemed to him like a funeral, with Jess as the mourner, limping slowly behind. The doctor hoped to avoid attracting attention in St. Goram. He did not know that Jess was following the carriage all the way.
It was the sight of the riderless horse that attracted people's attention. Then, when the carriage pulled up at the doctor's door, someone bolder than the rest looked in at the window and caught a glimpse of the unconscious figure.