went to work. The four remaining men stood around.
17 The Surgeon looked up. "Lord," he announced, "do you want this boy
to live?"
18 "He could be valuable," answered The First Speaker. "I don't know if
we have any other prisoners, and, after carrying him for a whole damned
day, I'd hate to have it go to waste!"
19 "Then I have to have a fire," the Surgeon continued.
20 One of the other men stood up. "Why don't you just light a torch,
stand up on that rock, and wave it around? Let the enemy know right
where we are?"
21 Red Cat could understand his concern. "Better yet," the man
continued , "why not just cut his throat, and get it over with? He may
die, anyway."
22 "Go ahead," ordered Red Cat, "you've got a knife. Do it!"
23 The man looked startled. "Oh, damn," he grunted, "I'll go
find some wood."
24 Red Cat took off his bedroll. "There's some tall bushes
over there," he ordered. "Get some sticks. We'll tie our
blankets together, move him over by that rock. We can make a little
shelter and try to keep the light in."
25 They worked quickly, and the man returned with an armload of wood.
It seemed like the Healer had been working for hours. From time to time
Red Cat peeked over the blankets. One time, he almost got sick!
Finally, the Healer came out, after dousing the fire.
26 "That boy should be dead!" he announced. "Most of the bleeding was
inside. It's going to be a miracle if he's got any wits left. I had an
awful time finding the shot, then, stopping the bleeding. I don't know
if we should move him, maybe I should