ave made."

"How could you be so brutal to the poor wretch?" I said indignantly.

"Brutal! Ha! ha! ha! My indignant young hero!" he cried. "Here are
you going to take up the cudgels in the rascal's behalf. Don't you see
there was nothing the matter with the artful black ruffian."

"Nothing the matter!" I said. "Why, wasn't he dangerously ill?"

"Dangerously full," said the doctor, clapping me on the shoulder. "I
was obliged to give him a lesson, Joe, and it will do him good for all
our trip. I suspected the rascal from the very first, but I have
studied medicine long enough to know how easy it is to be deceived by
appearances; so I gave Master Jimmy the benefit of the doubt, and
treated him as if he was really very ill, till I had made assurance
doubly sure, and then I thrashed him."

"What! do you really mean, doctor--" I began.

"It could not very well have happened with an Englishman, Joe. With
Master Jimmy there, it was different."

"But was he not very ill?"

"You saw him run and climb that tree; you heard how he yelled. Now what
do you think? Could a dying man do that?"

"N-no," I faltered. "What does it all mean, then?"

"Pig!" said the doctor, smiling; "the gluttonous dog ate till he could
not stir. He had as much as anybody else, and then waited his chance,
and when every one was lying down he began upon the store of dried
strips."

"Jimmy terribull sorry, Mass Joe," came from up the tree.

"He behaved like a boa constrictor, and then alarmed us all horribly
instead of confessing the truth. Why, my dear boy, do you suppose I
should have been so cruel to a sick man?"

"You black rascal!" I cried, looking up at Jimmy, who howled like a
dog.

"Jimmy come down now! Never do so no more."

"Only let me have a turn at you," I said, and he immediately began to
climb higher.

"Here, you come down, sir," I shouted.

For answer he climbed higher and higher till he was pretty well out of
sight among the small branches in the top of the tree.

"All right!" I said, "I can wait;" and I walked away with the doctor,
horribly annoyed at the waste of time, but wonderfully relieved at
matters being no worse.

I never knew, but I suspect that Jimmy stopped in the top of the tree
till it was dark and then slunk down and hid himself amongst the bushes
close up to the watch-fire.

At all events he was busy the next morning working away as if nothing
had been wrong overnight. He showed himse