“No, I don’t think so,” replied Gordon, as if in answer to an unspoken question, as James, having complied with his request, drew near with the basin of fresh water.

“Was it the dog?” asked James in a low voice.

“Yes, the fool came round to the office door, and—­” Gordon stopped with a miserable sigh which was almost a groan, and dipped the cloth in the basin.

“How did you get him off?” asked James.

“I had the whip, and Aaron came in just then with that damned mare.  She had balked.  I don’t think it is the jugular.  It can’t be.  Damn it, how he bleeds!  Run into the office, Elliot, and get the absorbent cotton and the brandy.  I’ve got to stop this somehow.  Oh, my God!”

James suddenly recognized the man on the ground, and gave an exclamation which Gordon did not seem to notice.  “For God’s sake, don’t let that dog out!” he cried.  “Don’t risk the office door.  Go around the house, the front way!  Be quick!”

James obeyed.  He rushed around the house, and opened the front door.  Immediately Clemency was clinging to him in the dim vestibule.  “Mother is asleep.  I think Uncle Tom must have given her some medicine to make her sleep.  Oh, what is the matter?  Who is that man out there, and what ails him, and what ails the dog?  I started to go in the office, but he leapt against the door, so I didn’t.  I was afraid he might get out and run upstairs and wake mother.  Oh, what is it all about?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, dear,” replied James.  “Now you must be a good little girl, and let me go.  Your uncle is in a hurry for some things in the office.”  He put away her clinging arms gently, and hurried on toward the office, but the girl followed him.  “If I don’t stand ready to shut the door behind you, that dog will be out,” she said.  All at once a conviction as to something seized her, and she cried out in terror and horror, “Oh, I know it is that man out there, and Jack wants to get at him.  I know.”

“It is nothing for you to worry about, dear.”

“I know.  Is he going to die?  Is he hurt much?”

“No, your uncle doesn’t think so.  Don’t hinder me, dear.”

“No, I won’t.  I will stand ready and bang the door together after you before Jack can get out.  Oh, it is that man!” Clemency was half-hysterical, but she stood her ground.  When James opened the office door cautiously and slipped through the opening, she pushed it together with surprising strength.  “Don’t get bitten yourself,” she called out anxiously.

For a moment James thought that he might be bitten, for the dog was so frenzied that he was almost past the point of recognizing his friends.  He made a powerful leap upon James, the crest upon his back as rigid as steel, but James snatched at his collar, threw him, and spoke, and the well-trained animal succumbed before his voice.  “Charge!” thundered the young man, and the dog obeyed, although still bristling and growling.  James hurriedly caught up his leash and fastened him to the staple, then he opened the inner office door, and spoke quickly and reassuringly to Clemency, who was huddled behind it shaking with fear.  “He is all right.  I have fastened him,” he said.  “Don’t worry.  Now I must go and help your uncle.”