ike matches," he groaned, and then turned to run,
thinking of his patient.

But, despite his haste, the flames were shooting out through the holes
in the roof of the shed where the sick man lay, by the time the doctor
turned the corner by the store.

He tried to shout a warning, and to call for help, but it was as if his
voice had dried up in his throat.

No one else appeared aware of the danger. The place seemed solitary and
silent, save for the hiss and crackle of the fire.

Then he heard a cry for help. It came from the inside of the shed, and
dashing forward, regardless of his own danger, he groped his way in
through smoke and flame, then, seizing the sick man, turned to carry him
out to safety, but even in that moment was stricken to the ground with
the burden he bore, and pinned there by a fall of roofing.

CHAPTER XVIII

"Father, We Want You!"

Rupert was so much better when he woke from his long sleep that the
doctor told Nealie she might be quite easy to leave him to the care of
Sylvia on the following day and go in search of her father if she
wished.

"You will be able to look after him too, will you not?" asked Nealie
wistfully, for in her heart she rather doubted Sylvia's nursing skill.

"No, I am coming with you," he answered, looking at her with a smile.

Nealie flushed hotly and burst into vigorous protest. "Please, please do
not take so much trouble for me; and besides, think of your patients,
and what you may lose by being away."

He shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "Doctors have very hard times in
the back blocks, Miss Plumstead. Those who are really ill cannot as a
rule afford to pay for medical skill, and everyone is too busy to have
time for imaginary complaints. I have no patients at the moment that I
cannot leave, except the man who lives out in the direction of Pig
Hill, and I thought that I would ride over there this afternoon, and
then we would start at dawn to-morrow morning. You don't ride, do you?"

"Not much, and I am sure that I could not sit on Rockefeller, because he
is so clumsy," said Nealie.

"Then I will borrow Jim Brown's two-wheeled cart; but I think that we
shall have to take your horse, because mine is rather worn. The track
out to Pig Hill is a heavy one, and I have been there every day of
late," said the doctor, and then he hurried away to see his patients in
the town, while Nealie did her best to arrange for leaving the others
for a few days.

Ther