They found him by a handful of fire,
breathing heavily and nearly unconscious. One of the sudden and
frequently fatal colds of the mountains had fastened on him, and he had
begun a war for life. Joe started back at once for liquor and a doctor,
leaving his comrade to watch by the sick man.
He could not understand why Blanche should stagger and grow white when he
told her; nor why she insisted on taking the liquor herself. He did not
yet guess the truth.
The next day all Fort Latrobe knew that Blanche was nursing Jacques, on
what was thought to be his no-return journey. The doctor said it was a
dangerous case, and he held out little hope. Nursing might bring
him through, but the chance was very slight. Blanche only occasionally
left the sick man's bedside to be relieved by Soldier Joe and Freddy
Tarlton. It dawned on Joe at last, it had dawned on Freddy before, what
Blanche meant by the heart-breaking words uttered that night in Weir's
Tavern. Down through the crust of this woman's heart had gone something
both joyful and painful. Whatever it was, it made Blanche a saving
nurse, a good apothecary; for, one night the doctor pronounced Jacques
out of danger, and said that a few days would bring him round if he was
careful.
Now, for the first time, Jacques fully comprehended all Blanche had done
for him, though he had ceased to wonder at her changed attitude to him.
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