"Of course, it was the moment of my life, and I felt, in a sort of way, that my whole future career depended upon my next action. My first instinct, remembering that Norris and Booth were both flogged when caught here, was a strategic retreat; but then my duty as a Boy Scout occurred to me. It was a fearful choice of evils, you may say; for if I cleared out, I was disgraced for ever, and my mind couldn’t have stood it, and if I went forward, I was also disgraced for ever, because to be flogged, to a chap with my opinions, is about the limit. I considered what should be done, and while I was considering, old Dunston groaned again and said out loud:
"That decided me, because the question of humanity came in, and looking on into the future in rather a remarkable way, I saw at once that if I retreated and heard next morning that old Dr. Dunston was found dead, I should feel the pangs of remorse for evermore, and they would ruin my life. I also felt that, if I saved him, he was hardly likely to flog me, because there would undoubtedly be a great feeling against him if he did."
"You might have done this," I said. "You might have retreated, and then gone down to the lodge and told the woman that there was an injured man, in great agony, lying half-way up the drive. You might have given a false name yourself, and then, when the rescuing party started, you might have cleared out and so remained anonymous. It would have gone down to the credit of the Boy Scouts, and old Dunston would have been the first to see that the particular Boy Scout in question preferred, for private reasons, to keep his identification a secret."
"I never thought of that," he said. "Probably, if I had, I should have done it. Anyway, I’m sorry I swore at you and called you a fathead, Briggs. You’re not a fathead--far from it."
He then continued his surprising narrative in these words:
"Anyway, I decided to rescue the Doctor, and stepped out of ambush and said:
"’Good evening, sir. I’m afraid you’re hurt.’
"He was evidently very glad to see me; but you know his iron discipline. He kept it up even then.
"’What boy are you?’ he asked, and I told him I was Travers minor from Merivale.
"’And how comes it you are here?’ he asked again.