flat stones and then gave a little cry of pain. She raised one foot up
and nursed it against her dusty, brown leg, meanwhile clutching her doll
closer to her neck.

"It's all right, honey; be a brave little girl," her father said
consolingly. "There's a spring along here somewhere and we can look
after that poor little foot. Ah, there it is," he cried, as he caught
sight of a big rock behind a stone wall with a seepage of water under it
among some trees at one side. "Just sit still a minute--till I rest--and
then we'll have a look." He leaned back against the wall and closed his
eyes to shut out the dizziness with which exhaustion and hunger filled
his aching head.

The child watched him anxiously for a moment and then put a soft little
hand on his shoulder:

"Are you _so_ tired, Daddy-man?"

"Yes, dear," he answered with a faint smile as he opened his eyes. "I
had to catch my breath, but I'm really all right. Now then, we'll call
in the hospital corps."

Virgie slipped down and sat on the top of the wall with her foot in her
hand, rocking to and fro, but bravely saying nothing until her father's
eye caught the look of pain on her pinched face.

"Does it hurt you much, dear?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. It--it hurts like the mischief," answered Virgie in a small
voice. "It keeps jumping up and down."