"Oh, all right. Sit down, I'll be with you in a few minutes. I am just mixing some medicine I can't leave." Bob sat down, on the side of the room next to a thin partition which divided that apartment from the other room at the front of the hallway. He could hear a murmur of voices in the next room and presently caught a few words. "I know we can do it, Fitzsimmons," one man said. "And if we can, look what it means to us." "Well, I am willing to take chances, Ruff," was the answer. "But we must be sure of that plan to get away." "That's it," said another voice. "I don't want to run no risk of being caught, and----" "Don't get scared before you are hurt, Soapy," said one of the other men. "I'll tell you how we can work this." And then the men got closer together and what followed Bob was unable to catch. The young miner was astonished beyond measure. He was certain that two of the men in the next room were Sag Ruff and Soapy Gannon, his tool. The other man had been called Fitzsimmons. "He must be the gambler Mark told about," said Bob to himself. "A fine trio they make! Every one of them ought to be in jail." He tried his best to catch more of what was said, but a noise on the street made it next to impossible. He heard one man speak of some gold and another of horses, and then mention was made of pistols and the new trail, and that was all, a jumble out of which he could make neither head nor tail. "They are surely up to no good and ought to be watched," Bob told himself, and then left the vicinity of the partition as the doctor came in. Doctor Barrows was a man of middle age, tall, dark, and with a heavy beard and black eyes. He listened closely to what Bob had to say. "Affected by the sun without a doubt," he said. "But he may have something else too. I ought to see him before I prescribe." "Will you come over to the gulch?" "It will take two days of my time, and just now my time is rather valuable." "I know it is, sir, but we are willing to pay what is right." "I couldn't undertake such a trip for less than a hundred dollars." "Will you furnish the medicine?" "Certainly, I'll take my medicine case with me on horseback. You came on horseback, didn't you?" "I came on my mule. He is just as good as a horse, for mountain climbing!" "I believe you. Want me to come at once, I presume." "We can't go till to-morrow very well. The trail isn't safe in the dark." "All right, we can start first thing in the morning, then. I'll go around and see my present patients to-night. I suppose you know my terms." "The card on the wall says, Cash in Advance." "That's it." "I've got three ounces of dust with me. I'll give you that now and the rest when we reach the gulch. Will that answer?" "I presume so. You look like an honest young fellow. Who is the sick young man?" "My chum--one of the best fellows in the world," answered Bob.