Then they disappeared, and a moment later the room was again in gloom.
For a second time Aldous hurried in the direction of MacDonald's camp.

He knew that, in spite of the protecting curtain, the glass had cut him.

He felt the warm blood dripping over his face; both hands were wet with it, The arm on which he had received the blow from the unseen object in the room gave him considerable pain, and he had slightly sprained an ankle in his leap through the window, so that he limped a little.

But his mind was clear--so clear that in the face of his physical discomfort he caught himself laughing once or twice as he made his way along the trail.
Aldous was not of an ordinary type.

To a curious and superlative degree he could appreciate a defeat as well as a triumph.