minute, I'll
slip into my shirt."

And suddenly Patty realized that he was stripped to the waist, but her
eyes never left the point high on his upper arm, almost against the
shoulder, where a blood-stained bandage dangled untidily.

"You're hurt!" she cried, swinging from the saddle and running toward
him.

"Nothin' but a scratch. I got nicked a little, night before last, an'
I just now got time to do it up again. It don't amount to
anything--don't even hurt, to speak of. I can let that go, if you'll
just----"

"Well, I won't just go away--or just anything else, except just attend
to that wound--so there!" She was at his side, examining the clumsy
bandage. "Sit right down beside the creek, and I'll look at it. The
first thing is to find out how badly you're hurt."

"It ain't bad. Looks a lot worse than it is. It was an unhandy place
to tie up, left-handed."

Scooping up water in her hand Patty applied it to the bandage, and
after repeating the process several times, began very gently to
remove the cloth. "Why it's clear through!" she cried, as the bandage
came away and exposed the wound.

"Just through the meat--it missed the bone. That cold water feels
good. It was gettin' kind of stiff."

"What did you put on it?"

"Nothin'. Didn't have anything along, an' wouldn't have had time to
fool with it if I'd been packin' a whole drug-store."

"Where's your whisky?"

"I ain't got any."

"Where's your jug? Surely there must be some in it--enough to wash out
this wound."

The man shook his head. "No, the jug's plumb empty an' dry. I ain't
be'n to town for 'most a week."

Patty was fumbling at her saddle for the little "first aid" kit that
she faithfully carried, and until this moment, had never found use
for. "Probably the only time in the world it would ever do you any
good, you haven't got it!" she exclaimed, disgustedly, as she unrolled
a strip of gauze from about a tiny box of salve.

"I'm sorry there ain't any whisky in the jug. I never thought of
keepin' it for accident."

The girl smeared the wound full of salve and adjusted the bandage,
"Now," she said, authoritatively, "you're going to eat your breakfast
and then we're going to ride straight to Samuelson's ranch. The doctor
will be there and he can dress this wound right."

"It's all right, just the way it is," said Holland. "I've seen fellows
done up in bandages, one way an' another, but not any that was better
'tended to than that." He glance