He'd even gone so far as to give himself a wound to make his story look authentic.
Some fathers give a wound merely by their silence; they are present, yet absent to their sons.
That was why he had taken a real risk to give one of them a serious wound.
"The thing at-tacked Leonard; it might have given him a serious wound."
Some people give themselves a self-inflicted wound during wartime so that they do not have to serve in the military.
I got up a scene, and gave myself a safe little wound, to frighten him.
I merely cut something from him, gave him a wound to remember me by.
An' he killed Bruce on the spot an' gave Meeker a nasty wound.
As it was, I gave him a severe wound; and, roaring with rage, he turned and came at me again.
It's a bit like giving a patient a severe wound and then studying whether she survives.