The party was made up of a dozen men, half of them from the gun crew, with an additional complement of laborers from the steerage.
Ruth Clinton, as soon as she learned of the proposed expedition, sought out Percival and insisted upon re-bandaging his hands.
"You must not go into all that tangle of brushwood with your hands unprotected," she declared, obstinately shaking her head in response to his objections.

"Don't be foolish, Mr.Percival.It won't take me five minutes to wrap them up.

Sit down,--I insist.

You are still one of my patients.

Hold out your hand!" "They are ever so much better," he protested, but he obeyed her.
"Of course they are," she agreed, in a matter-of-fact tone.