himself that circumstances pointed to Indian
Jake as the culprit. It was highly improbable that any one else should
have been in the vicinity without Lem's knowledge. It was quite
possible that Lem's statement of the hour when he was shot was
incorrect, for his mind could hardly yet be clear enough to be
certain, without doubt, of details.

Lem quickly dropped into a refreshing sleep, and Doctor Joe left him
for a little while to join the boys out-of-doors. He found them behind
the house picking the goose Indian Jake had left in the tree at the
Flat Point camp.

"How's Lem, sir? Is he hurt bad?" David asked as Doctor Joe seated
himself upon a stump.

"He's sleeping now. After he rests a little we'll see how badly he's
hurt," said Doctor Joe. "I fancy you chaps are thinking about dinner.
Hungry already, I'll be bound!"

"Aye," grinned David, "wonderful hungry. 'Tis most noon, sir."

Doctor Joe consulted his watch.

"I declare it is. It must have been nearly eleven o'clock when we
reached here. I didn't realize it was so late."

"'Twere ten minutes to eleven, sir," said Andy. "I were lookin' to see
how long it takes us to come from Flat P'int."

"What time did we leave Flat Point?" asked Doctor Joe.

"'Twere twenty minutes before seven, sir." Andy drew his new watch
proudly from his pocket to refer to it again, as he did upon every
possible occasion.

"No," corrected David, "'twere only twenty-five minutes before eleven
when we leaves Flat P'int, and fifteen minutes before eleven when we
gets here. I looks to see."

"Perhaps your watches aren't set alike," suggested Doctor Joe.
"Suppose we compare them."

The comparison disclosed a difference, as Doctor Joe predicted, of
five minutes. Then each must needs set his watch with Doctor Joe's,
which was a little slower than Andy's and a little faster than
David's.

Doctor Joe made some mental calculations. Both David and Andy had
observed their watches, and there could be no doubt of the length of
time it had required them to come from Flat Point to Lem's cabin. They
had consumed four hours, but their progress had been exceedingly slow.
Indian Jake had doubtless travelled much faster in his light canoe,
but, at best, with the wind against him, he could hardly have paddled
from Lem's cabin to Flat Point in less than two hours. He had arrived
one hour after sunset. If Lem were correct as to the time when the
shooting took place, Indian Jake could not be guilty.