"My poor fellow, I am distressed beyond words. I promise you that you shall have every care and attention. I won't leave this ranch till-- till the end." "The end?" "You are a remarkable specimen--probably you will make a gallant fight--but I cannot disguise from you--it would be criminal to do so-- that you ought to put your house in order." "Hav'n't got no house," said Dan, not quite comprehending, but sadly frightened. "Me and Mame expected to build next year, but that's off." "Next year!" echoed the Professor testily. "The question is: Where will you be next week?" Dan staggered. The Professor, having long retired from active practice, remembered with a qualm that he might have broken this appalling news more considerately. He said quietly-- "I beg your pardon. I ought to have tempered this; but you are an American, and strong enough at this moment to know the truth. I may pull you through. Without boasting, there is not another man in America, or Europe either, who would say as much." "Christopher Columbus!" "I don't call myself that," said the Professor modestly, "but I may claim to have discovered pathogenic continents. Now, my boy"--he took hold firmly of Dan's arm--"I am going to put you to bed." "No, you ain't," said Dan. "I've chores to do. I can't be spared." The Professor nodded. "You're a stout fellow. After all, half-an-hour won't make any material difference." "In half-an-hour you'll find me in the bunk-house. I'm obligated to ye," he added hastily. "So long!" He strode off. The Professor nodded approvingly. He had grit himself, and esteemed it highly in others. "I must pull him through," he muttered. * * * * * When the Professor reached the bunk-house, he found three tall strong men awaiting him. Their faces, tanned by many suns, exhibited a curious uniformity of tint--the colour of dirty gruel. Dan said in a voice that trembled-- "These are my friends, Jimmie Barker and Pete Holloway. They helped open up that derned spring. They drank a plenty of the water. Jimmie, here, couldn't git enough of it. They've the same symptoms as I hev." Jimmie and Pete writhed. "Pins and needles all over," said Pete. "Went to sleep on an ants' nest onst," said Jimmie faintly. "This is a heap worse." "Heaven help you!" ejaculated the Professor. "'Pears to me," said Dan solemnly, "from what you said just now, we're in the mulligatawny." The Professor muttered something encouraging, but he remembered the cow. "To bed with you," he commanded. Within half-an-hour everyone on the ranch had heard the news. The Professor alone remained monumentally impassive. "All that is humanly possible shall be done," he affirmed. "And your treatment?" said I. "I have no drugs here, but already I have despatched a man to San Lorenzo for strychnia, which in the first stage is invaluable. Meantime I must do what I can with whisky. Have you plenty of whisky?" "Yes, but----" "I want a gallon of it."