Josephine was back in seconds with a neatly cut square of yellow fabric.

Isaac Bell pressed it over the wound and held three sides of the square down tight to Archie’s skin. As Archie’s chest rose and fell, Bell let air escape from the wound but allowed no more air to be sucked in.

“Josephine!”

“I’m here.”

“I need cloth to tie this down.”

Without hesitation, she removed her heavy flying tunic and then her blouse, which she sliced into long strips.

“Help me slip it under him.”

Bell rolled Archie onto the side of the wound while Josephine worked the cloth under him. Bell tied the ends.

“Grab those shrouds to keep him warm. Doctors!”

A doctor ran up at last. He banged his bag down, knelt beside Archie, and felt for a pulse. “Good job,” he said of the patch. “Are you a physician?”

“I’ve seen it done,” Bell answered tersely. On his own chest, he could have added, when he was twenty-two years old, by Joseph Van Dorn, calmly trying to save his apprentice’s life while tears were soaking his whiskers.

“What put the hole in him?” asked the doctor.

“Hollow-point .455.”

The doctor looked at Bell. “Is he a friend?”

“He is my best friend.”

The doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry, son. There’s a reason they call it a manstopper.”

“We need an ambulance.”

“One’s coming right now. The English birdman didn’t need it.”

WITHIN MINUTES ARCHIE was loaded into the ambulance and on his way to the hospital with two doctors riding with him. By then the Van Dorns had regrouped, and formed a powerful cordon around Josephine.

Harry Frost had escaped in the confusion.

Bell quickly organized a manhunt, which included alerting every hospital in the area.

“He’s carrying at least three slugs in him,” he said, “maybe four. And Archie broke his jaw.”

“We caught two of their crew, Isaac. Brooklyn toughs. I recognize one. He works for Rod Sweets, the opium king. What do we do with them?”

“See what you can get out of them before you hand them to the cops.” Bell had no doubt that Archie had romanced the local police when he first arrived at the racetrack. It was standard practice to cozy up and find who should be paid off to be friends in an emergency.

“They’re singing already. Frost paid them a hundred bucks a head. Gave them the dough up front so they could bank it with their girlfriends in case they got caught.”

“O.K. I doubt they’ll know anything useful about Frost. But see what you can learn. Then turn them in. Tell the cops Van Dorn will press charges. Give them a reason to hold them.”

Bell spoke briefly with Josephine to make sure she felt safe and to assure her that he had ordered up additional guards until they caught Frost. “Are you all right?”