ception of Dr. Darwood. Somehow,
the Indians had learned that he was a big medicine man, so they made the
Doctor captive and took him over the mountains many miles from there.
They probably killed the others so as to make sure of the Doctor."

"What did they want with a medicine man?" interjected the fat boy.

"They wanted him professionally. Their chief was a very sick man. I
guess the old gentleman was about ready to die. At least he thought so.
The chief bore the name of Chief Anna-Hoots. Nice name, eh? No wonder he
got sick."

"He must have belonged to the owl family," observed Chunky.

Tad rebuked the fat boy with a look. The Captain regarded Stacy
quizzically, then proceeded with his story.

"Their own medicine man had been killed by a bear. You see his medicine
wasn't calculated to head off bears. The chief, therefore, was in a bad
way. Dr. Darwood was commanded to make the chief well, and, so the story
goes, after examining Hoots, he at once saw what was the trouble with
the old man. He set to work over the savage, not so much from a
professional interest as that he knew very well his life would be
forfeited did he not do something for the patient. It is a safe guess
that the Doctor never had worked more heroically over a patient. Well,
he saved the chief--had him on his feet and hopping around as lively as
a jack-rabbit in less than twenty-four hours. There was great rejoicing
among Anna's people, and Darwood was feasted and made much of. He was
almost as big a man as Old Hoots himself. Nothing was too good for him
in that camp."

"Why didn't he poison the whole tribe while he had the chance?"
questioned Rector.

"Perhaps it wasn't professional," smiled the Captain in reply. "But
Chief Anna-Hoots--precious old rascal that he was--was so grateful that
he made the Doctor chief medicine man over all the tribes and a tribal
chief of one of the subordinate tribes. And now we are coming to the
point of our story. Old Hoots, later on, let the Doctor into a great
secret. Having driven the evil spirits out of Anna and set him on his
feet almost as good as new, the patient evidently was of the opinion
that the medicine man was entitled to something more than the ordinary
fee for such a service. He took the Doctor to a place where a roaring
glacial stream of icy water was tearing down through a narrow gash in
the mountains on its way to the sea, and there he showed the
doctor-chief gold in great quantities, so the