The doctor says you've got four ribs broken as well as your arm." "Have I ?" Jack said, surprised.

"I know he hurt me preciously while he was feeling me about this morning; but he didn't say anything about broken ribs." A broken rib is a much less serious business than a broken arm, and in ten days Jack was up and about again, feeling generally stiff and sore, and with his arm in a sling.

The surgeon had talked of sending him on board ship, but Jack begged so hard for leave to remain with the party ashore, that his request was granted.
Winter had now set in in earnest.

The weather was cold and wet; sometimes it cleared up overhead, and the country was covered with snow.

A month after the accident, Jack was fit for duty again.