“My friend,” answered the doctor, “I’ll tell you the truth. He ain’t got more’n one chance in a hunderd--and that’s a pretty slim one. If he ain’t better to-morrow I’ve got to operate.” He sat down. The man with the scar sat down in front of him. The table was between them. He leaned his arms on it. “Don’t take me for a fool,” he advised. The doctor folded his arms. “Now, look a-here,” he retorted, smiling; “don’t take _me_ for a fool. I know what’s the matter with you.” At that the man with the scar rose so suddenly that his bench tipped backward. “Yas,” the doctor went on. “I know why you brung me here blindfolded and what you’re hidin’.” The right hand of the man with the scar stole to his hip. The doctor ignored the action. He went on speaking with clear directness: “You two fellers’ve located a gold mine. And you’ve got the crazy idea that I’m a-goin’ to bring out a bunch of locators. Wal, git over it. I’m not a prospector: I’m a doc.” The hand on the weapon rested quiet. The man with the scar drew a gasping breath. Then long and keenly he studied the face of the doctor. After a time he dropped his arm, picked up his bench and reseated himself. Some little time passed. The doctor smoked and nursed a knee. Once he got up to take the pulse of his patient and again to mark the temperature. But his every movement was leisurely, and he showed no wish to leave. The man with the scar sat, leaning on the table, apparently lost in thought. All at once he rose. “Well, come on,” he said. Again the doctor examined the sick man. “This’ll be a bad day for your friend,” he explained. “I’m leavin’ something to chase the pain.” When they were ready to mount the other addressed him harshly. “Doc,” he said, “if you and me run into anybody on our way back it’ll be you that gets my first shot.” “That’s a bargain,” answered the doctor good-naturedly. But, riding out of the cañon, he felt far from confident. The previous night his guide had led briskly. Now the mule was lagging. The doctor found himself moving his body forward in his saddle to urge Bobby on. They had gone only a small part of the way homeward when the mule came to a stop. Bobby halted, too, and the doctor waited like a man who expects a blow in the dark. He listened. The other did not dismount. There was no audible movement ahead. But he felt that sinister face turned upon him. “Say, that friend of your’n has got a wonderful constitution,” he remarked. There was a short interval of silence. It seemed many minutes to the doctor. Then, “Get up!” said the voice ahead. Letty was waiting for him when he turned in at the corral gate, though it was long past midnight. He had been under a severe strain, but she had been under a greater. He saw that when he lifted the lantern she brought him and looked into her face. “Good news,” he told her, speaking low. “The baby’s there.”