"It is nothing," he was saying, "a severe squeeze, some slight abrasions, and a great nervous shock, quite serious in its nature, although your friend makes light of it, and wishes to get up at once. I think, however--" A nurse entered. "The patient insists upon my leaving the room," she cried angrily. "He is dressing." They heard Robert's voice: "Confound it, I have been rolled on three times in one day by a bucking broncho, and thought nothing of it. I absolutely refuse to stop in bed!" The doctor resigned professional responsibility; and the nature of Margaret's cheque caused him to admit that, to a man accustomed to South American ponies, unbroken, the nervous shock might not amount to much. Indeed, Robert appeared almost immediately, and in a bad temper. "I lost my wind," he explained, "when that horse fell on me, and everyone promptly imagined I was killed. I hope, Margaret, the needless excitement of my appearance on a stretcher did not alarm you. They were going to whip me off to the hospital when I managed to gurgle out the name of the hotel." "What happened?" said Brett. "The most extraordinary thing. Have you told him, Davie?" "No, I attributed your first words to me as being due to delirium. I had no idea you were in earnest." "Well, Mr. Brett," said Frazer, sitting down, for notwithstanding his protests, he was somewhat shaky, "it began to rain after breakfast." "Excellent!" cried the barrister, "An Englishman, in his sound mind, always starts with the state of the weather." "I am sound enough, thank goodness, but I had a very close shave. Don't laugh, Davie. My ribs are sore. As the ladies decided not to go out until the weather took up, Davie said he would keep them company whilst I seized the opportunity to visit a tailor. I left the hotel and walked quickly to the corner of Whitehall. It was hardly worth while taking a cab to Bond Street, and I intended to cross in front of King Charles's statue. It is an awkward place, and a lot of 'buses, cabs, and vans were bowling along downhill from the Strand and St. Martin's Church. I waited a moment on the kerbstone, watching for a favourable opportunity, when suddenly I was pitched head foremost in front of a passing 'bus. My escape from instant death was solely due to the splendid way in which the driver handled his horses and applied his brake. The near horse was swung round so sharp that he fell and landed almost, not quite, on the top of me. I could feel his hot, reeking body against my face, and although the greater part of his impact was borne by the road, I got enough to knock the breath out of me. You will see by the state of my clothes in the other room how I was flattened in the mud. By the way, Davie, it is your suit." Helen choked back something she was going to say, and Frazer continued: