s, so gay and bright the reverend guest became,
that Antonio was helped over his own tedious time of waiting, and
scarce knew how the time passed before John's return.

This was sooner than could have been anticipated. The physician was
already halfway on the road, intending a neighborly call at Sobrante,
when the carpenter met and literally collared him.

"Come you must, Dr. Kimball. I shan't take 'no' for an answer," was
the decisive retort to the rose-grower's prompt refusal.

"I shall do nothing of the sort. I'm not a practicing physician now,
and I never was a surgeon. As for that scalawag, Bernal, if he's got
himself shot, he's met exactly what he deserved. Giddap!" he cried, to
his horse, and was dashing past, just as John's long arm reached out
and clutched the ranchman's coat.

"It isn't so much for him as for our Lady Jess. You're not in such a
tearin' hurry, neighbor, and if you are--well, just let your hurry
wait."

Whereupon, in a few brief, telling sentences, Dr. Kimball was put in
possession of the facts Antonio had revealed, and had wheeled his
horse about, with a whimsical snarl:

"Well, forge ahead. For anybody named Trent I'd break my own
resolutions a dozen times a day."

It is probable that the kind-hearted man would have gone anyway, even
if he had ridden some miles still farther on an opposite road. The
knowledge that somebody was suffering and needing him was an appeal to
his professional instinct he would scarcely have resisted, but he had
to make a protest first.

All merriment ceased when he entered the cabin on the mesa, and
Jessica instinctively sought the reporter's hand, needing his sympathy
during the anxious few minutes that ensued upon the doctor's arrival.
Fra Sebastian and John had followed the surgeon indoors, but Ferd, who
had brought the priest to the upland, still remained within the
deserted fold, whither he had retreated as soon as his errand was
accomplished. To him death of any sort, even that of an animal brought
a horrible fear, and nothing would induce him to leave his shelter;
till, when the conference was over, Jessica ran to him, exclaiming:

"Cheer up, Ferd! Oh, Ferd! He's going to live, though, maybe--maybe he
will never walk again. Come and see him, Ferd. He wants you. He needs
you."

The dwarf came reluctantly, still adoring his brother and still
shrinking from him and the sight of his agony. The examination had
been painful, of course; and the condition