it would have distressed Daisy if she had not been so intent upon his object; but as it was she strained her little head back to look at him, where he picked his way along at a precipitous height above her, sometimes holding to a bramble or sapling, and sometimes depending on his own good footing and muscular agility.  In this way of progress, while making good his passage from one place to another, the Captain’s foot in leaping struck upon a loosely poised stone or fragment of rock.  It rolled from under him.  A spring saved the Captain, but the huge stone once set a going continued its way down the hill.

“Daisy—­look out!” he shouted.

“Have you got one?” said Daisy, springing forward.  She misunderstood his warning; and her bound brought her exactly under the rolling stone.  She never saw it till it had reached her and knocked her down.

“Hollo, Daisy!” shouted Capt.  Drummond,—­“is all right?”

He got no answer, listened, shouted again, and then made two jumps from where he stood to the bottom.  Daisy lay on the ground, her little foot under the stone; her eyes closed, her face paler than ever.  Without stopping to think how heavy the stone was, with a tremendous exertion of strength the young man pushed it from where it lay and released the foot; but he was very much afraid damage was done.  “It couldn’t help it”—­said the Captain to himself as he looked at the great piece of rock; but the first thing was to get Daisy’s eyes open.  There was no spring near that he knew of; he went back to their lunch basket and brought from it a bottle of claret—­all he could find—­and with it wetted Daisy’s lips and brow.  The claret did perhaps as well as cold water; for Daisy revived; but as soon as she sat up and began to move, her words were broken off by a scream of pain.

“What is it, Daisy?” said the Captain.  “Your foot?—­that confounded stone!—­can’t you move it?”

“No,”—­said Daisy with a short breath, “I can’t move it.  Please excuse me, Capt.  Drummond—­I couldn’t help crying out that minute; it hurt me so.  It doesn’t hurt me so much now when I keep still.”

The Captain kept still too, wishing very much that he and Daisy and the trilobites were all back in their places again.  How long could they sit still up there on the mountain?  He looked at the sun; he looked at his watch.  It was three o’clock.  He looked at Daisy.

“Let me see,” said he, “if anything is the matter.  Hard to find out, through this thick boot!  How does it feel now?”

“It pains me very much, these two or three minutes.”

The Captain looked at Daisy’s face again, and then without more ado took his knife and cut the lacings of the boot.  “How is that?” he asked.

“That is a great deal better.”

“If it hadn’t been, you would have fainted again directly.  Let us see—­Daisy, I think I had better cut the boot off.  You have sprained the ankle, or something, and it is swollen.”