s of
nausea over him, so that he could not concentrate his mind upon
anything. Then he thought of the bottle of whisky he kept in his bunk
for emergencies. Ward was not a man who drank for pleasure, but he had
the Western man's faith in a good jolt of whisky when he felt a cold
coming on or a pain in his stomach--or anything like that. He always
kept a bottle on hand. A quart lasted him a long time.

He felt along the footboard of the bunk till his fingers touched the
bottle, drew it out from its hiding-place--he hid it because stray
callers would have made short work of it--and, placing the uncorked
bottle to his trembling lips, swallowed twice.

He was steadier now, and the sickness left him like fog before a stiff
breeze. His eyes went slowly around the cabin, measuring his
resources, and his needs and limitations. He pulled his one chair
toward him--the chair which Buck Olney had occupied so unwillingly--and
placed his left knee upon it. It hurt terribly, but the whisky had
steadied him so that he could bear the pain. He managed to reach the
cupboard where he kept his dishes, and took down a bottle of liniment
and a box of carbolized vaseline which he happened to have. He was
near the two big, zinc water pails which he had filled that morning
just to show Buck Olney how cool he was over his capture, and he
bethought him that water was going to be precious in the next few weeks.

He lifted down one pail and swung it forward as far as he could, and
set it on the floor ahead of him. Then he swung the other pail beside
it. Painfully he hitched his chair alongside, lifted the pails and set
them forward again. He did that twice and got them beside his bunk.
He went back and inspected the tea-kettle, found it half full, and
carried that also beside the bunk. Then he took another drink of
whisky and rested awhile.

Bandages! Well, there was a new flour-sack hanging on a nail. He
stood up, leaned and got it, and while he was standing, he reached for
the cigar-box where he kept his bachelor sewing outfit; two spools of
very coarse thread, some large-eyed needles to carry it, an assortment
of buttons, and a pair of scissors. He cut the flour-sack into strips
and sewed the strips together; his stitches were neater than you might
think.

When the bandage was long enough, he rolled it as he had seen doctors
do, and fished some pins out of the cigar-box and laid them where he
could get his fingers on them qui