E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustration. See 23304-h.htm or 23304-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/3/0/23304/23304-h/23304-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/3/0/23304/23304-h.zip) THE LADY DOC by CAROLINE LOCKHART Author of "The Man from Bitter Roots," "The Fighting Shepherdess" Frontispiece by Gayle Hoskins [Illustration: "No, Essie Tisdale, I can't just see you in any such setting as that"] A. L. Burt Company Publishers New York Published by arrangement with J. B. Lippincott Company Copyright, 1912, by J. B. Lippincott Company Published September, 1912 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The "Canuck" That Saved Flour Gold 9 II. The Humor of the Fate Lachesis 17 III. A Mesalliance 31 IV. "The Ground Floor" 43 V. Another Case in Surgery 56 VI. "The Church Racket" 70 VII. The Sheep From the Goats 77 VIII. "The Chance of a Lifetime" 90 IX. The Ways of Polite Society 99 X. Essie Tisdale's Enforced Abnegation 110 XI. The Opening Wedge 120 XII. Their First Clash 127 XIII. Essie Tisdale's Colors 139 XIV. "The Ethics of the Profession" 147 XV. Symes's Authority 165 XVI. The Top Wave 172 XVII. The Possible Investor 179 XVIII. "Her Supreme Moment" 188 XIX. "Down And Out" 213 XX. An Unfortunate Affair 234 XXI. Turning a Corner 248 XXII. Crowheart's First Murder Mystery 259 XXIII. Symes Meets the Homeseekers 271 XXIV. The Dago Duke And Dan Treu Exchange Confidences 280 XXV. Crowheart Demands Justice 288 XXVI. Latin Methods 294 XXVII. Essie Tisdale's Moment 303 XXVIII. The Sweetest Thing in the World 312 XXIX. "The Bitter End" 325 XXX. "Thicker Than Water" 332 THE LADY DOC I