had decided upon for his morning meal; and after
purchasing two pounds, together with such an amount of crackers as he
thought would be necessary, he set about eating breakfast at the same
time that he gained the desired information.

"I've come from the other side of Smoke Creek Desert," he began,
speaking indistinctly because of the fulness of his mouth, "an' want
to find a doctor."

"Ain't sick, are yer?" the shopkeeper asked with mild curiosity.

"Daddy shot himself in the leg, an' mother don't know what to do for
him; so I've come up to hire a doctor to tell me, an' buy whatever he
says is needed."

"A kid like you come across the desert! Where's your pony?"

"I haven't got any. Daddy's horses are so nearly played out that
they've got to be left to grass two or three weeks, if we count on
doin' anything with 'em."

"Did you walk across?" the shopkeeper asked incredulously.

"That's what I did;" and Dick told of his sufferings during the
sand-storm, not in a boastful way, but as if it were his purpose to
give the prospectors the praise they deserved.

When he had concluded, the proprietor plunged his hands deep in his
pockets, surveyed the boy from head to foot much as Parsons and
Robinson had, saying not a word until Dick's face reddened under the
close scrutiny, when he exclaimed,--

"Well, I'll be jiggered! A kid of your size--say, how old are you, bub?"

"Thirteen."

"Well, a baby of thirteen lightin' out across Smoke Creek Desert, an'
all for the sake of helpin' your dad, eh? Do you reckon you can bite
out of Dr. Manter's ear all you want to know, an' then go back an' run
the business?"

"It seems as if he ought to tell me what mother needs to do, an' I can
remember every word. Then she said there would have to be some
medicine to stop the fever; an' that's what I'm countin' on buyin', if
he gives me the name of it."

"When are you goin' back?"

"I'm in hopes to get away this noon, an' then I'll be in camp by
to-morrow mornin'."

"Say, sonny, do you want to stuff me with the yarn that you've
travelled forty-five miles in less'n thirty-six hours, an' count on
doin' the same thing right over agin, which is ninety miles in less'n
three days?"

"I've done the first half of the journey, an' it couldn't have been
more'n two hours past midnight when I got here. With such a lay-out as
this for breakfast I'll be in good shape for goin' back; an' it would
be a mighty poor boy who couldn't get there