noon
While the General placed Zibeline on the litter , the groom took Aida by the bridle , and the sad procession made its way slowly toward the enclosure surrounding the weighing-stand . As for Seaman , half submerged in the stream , and with an incurable fracture of the leg , nothing was left to do for the poor animal but to kill him . Walking slowly , step by step , beside her whose power had so quickly and so wholly subjugated him , watching over her removal with more than paternal solicitude , Henri de Prerolles , sustained by a ray of hope , drew a memorandum-book from his pocket , wrote upon a slip of paper a name and an address , and , giving it to the groom , ordered him to go ahead of the litter and telephone to the most celebrated surgeon in Paris , requesting him to go as quickly as possible to the domicile of Mademoiselle de Vermont , and , meantime , to send with the greatest despatch one of the eight-spring carriages from the stables . It was noon by the dial on the grand-stand when the litter was finally deposited in a safe place . The surgeon could hardly arrive in less than two hours ; therefore , the General realized that he must rely upon his own experience in rendering the first necessary aid . He lifted Valentine 's hand , unbuttoned the glove , laid his finger on her pulse , and counted the pulsations , which were weak , slow , and irregular . While the wife of the gate-keeper kept a bottle of salts at the nostrils of the injured girl , Henri soaked a handkerchief in tincture of arnica and sponged her temples with it ; then , pouring some drops of the liquid into a glass of water , he tried in vain to make her swallow a mouthful .