"And YOU!" Norine scanned the invalid appraisingly. "Why, you're another man!" "Sure! Listen to this." He thumped his chest. "Best pair of bellows in Cuba. The open air did it." "What a pity you were hurt just at such a time. But you would take insane risks. Now then, let's have a look at your wound." She pushed him, protesting, into her cabin. "It doesn't hurt, really," he declared. "It's only a scratch." "Of course you'd say so. Sit down." "Please don't bother. If you don't mind--" "But I do mind. If you won't trust me I'll run for a doctor." "I tell you I can't stand 'em. They'll probe around and give a fellow gangrene." "Then behave yourself." Norine forced the patient into a chair and withdrew his arm from the sling. Then, despite his weak resistance, she deftly removed the bandage. From his expression she felt sure that she must be hurting him, but when the injury was exposed she looked up in wonderment. "Leslie!" she exclaimed. "What in the world--" "Well! You insisted on seeing it," he grumbled. "I told you it wasn't much." He tried to meet her eyes, but failed. There was a moment's pause, then Norine inquired, curiously: "What is the trouble? You'd better 'fess up." Branch struggled with himself, he swallowed hard, then said: "I'm--going to. You can see now why I didn't go to a doctor: _I_ did it--shot myself. You won't give me away?" "Why--I don't understand." "Oh, I'm in trouble. I simply had to get away, and this was all I could think of. I wanted to blow a real hole through myself and I tried three times. But I missed myself." "Missed yourself? How? Why?" Branch wiped the sweat from his face. "I flinched--shut my eyes and pulled the trigger." Norine seated herself weakly; she stared in bewilderment at the unhappy speaker. "Afraid? You, El Demonio! Why, you aren't afraid of anything!" "Say! You don't believe all that stuff, do you? I'm afraid of my shadow and always have been. I'm not brave and never was. They told me I was going to die and it scared me so that I tried to end things quickly. I couldn't bear to die slowly, to KNOW that I was dying by inches. But, Lord! It scared me even worse to go into battle. I was blind with fright all the time and I never got over it. Why, the sight of a gun gives me a chill, and I jump every time one goes off. God! how I've suffered! I went crazy at our first engagement--crazy with fear. I didn't know where I was, or what happened, or anything. Afterward, when they hailed me as a hero, I thought they were kidding, that everybody must know how frightened I was. After a time I saw that I'd fooled them, and that shamed me. Then--I had to keep it up or become ridiculous. But it nearly killed me." "If you're speaking the truth, I'm not sure you're such a coward as you make out," Norine said.