He turned and when he recognized her, exclaimed in
surprise: "Panna!"
"Softly, Doctor," she pleaded with glance and voice, then added: "Tell
me frankly how he is, frankly, I entreat you."
"You have done something very, very bad there," replied the physician
hesitatingly, then paused.
"His life is not in danger?"
"Perhaps not, but he will be a cripple all his days. One eye is
completely destroyed, the nose entirely crushed, the upper lip gashed
entirely through, and two teeth are gone."
"Horrible, horrible!" groaned Panna, wringing her hands in speechless
grief.
"He will not lose his life, as I said, though he has lost a great deal
of blood from the wound in the lips, and the lost eye may yet cause us
trouble, but the poor fellow will remain a monster all his days. No
girl will ever look at him again."
"There's no need of it," she answered hastily, and when the physician
looked at her questioningly, she went on more quietly as if talking to
herself: "If only he gets well, if he is only able to be up again."
Then, thanking the doctor, she bade him good-night, and returned slowly
and absently to her father's hut.
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