But he himself dared not leave Bridget till the fever was down, and the crisis past.

That could not be till she had awakened from the deep sleep into which she had fallen.
With the sight of her in that sleep, however, the pull on his forces slackened, though he was still too strung-up to think of snatching even an hour's sleep for himself.

He watched, alternately, the Bush fire and Bridget's face, thinking his own dour thoughts the while.

Every now and then, he would creep on tip-toe to the veranda railings and gaze out upon the lurid smoke which it seemed to him was thickening over the horizon.

When the sun was risen he washed and dressed and went up to the Bachelors' Quarters where Mrs Hensor was already about and gave him tea and food, which he badly needed.