" he asked.

"I can't say. He is young, in good condition, and strong. If you will
get me some blankets, I'll turn in. Call me in about two hours."

CHAPTER XXVII

THE RIDERS

Several days passed before the surgeon would express a definite opinion.

Collie lay, hollow-cheeked and ghastly, in the dim interior of the tent.
His eyes were wide and fixed. Overland came in. Collie recognized him
and tried to smile. Overland backed out of the tent and strode away
growling. The tears were running down his unshaven cheeks. He did not
return until later in the day. Then he asked the surgeon that
oft-repeated question.

"I don't see how he can recover," said the surgeon quietly. "Of course
there's a slim chance. Don't build on it, though."

"If there's a chance, I reckon he will freeze to it," said Overland.
"From what he was ramblin' about when he was off his head, I reckon he's
got somethin' more to live for than just himself."

"Has he any relatives?" queried the surgeon.

"Nope. Except me. But he was expectin' to have, I guess. And I tell you
what, Doc, she's worth gettin' shot up for."

"Too bad! Too bad," muttered the surgeon.

"What's too bad, eh?"

The other shook his head. "If there is any one that he would care to
see, or that would care to see him, you had better write at once."

Overland was stunned. The doctor's word had been given at last, and it
was not a word of hope.

Overland Red bowed to the doctor's opinion, but his heart was
unconquerable. He wrote a long letter to his old-time friend, Brand
Williams, of the Moonstone Ranch. The letter was curiously worded. It
did not mention Louise Lacharme, nor Mrs. Stone, nor the rancher. It
was, in the main, about Mexico and the "old days"; no hint of Collie's
accident was in the page until the very end. The letter concluded with
"But you needn't think you owe me anything for that. I was glad to put
him to the hush because we was pals them days. Collie was shot by
Saunders. The doctor says he will die most likely. He was shot in the
back. It would go bad with Saunders if the Moonstone boys ever heard of
this."

* * * * *

The letter dispatched by Winthrop, Overland Red took courage. He felt
that he himself was holding Collie's life from sinking. His huge
optimism would not admit that his friend _could_ die.

He was leaning back against a rock near the notch and gazing at the
slanting moonlight that spread across