a single
incident may be mentioned as indicating the estimation in which the
doctor's skill speedily came to be held by his companions. Before the
expedition had been three weeks upon the march his surviving comrades,
taking alarm at the rapidly augmenting number of lonely graves with
which they were dotting the dreary trail, hastily formed a conspiracy
to despoil him of his enginery of death. Under the silent stars,
what time the doctor was sleeping the deep sleep of the overworked
practitioner, his medicine-case and his miscellaneous assortment of
cutlery were quietly spirited away, and were never seen again. The
doctor proclaimed his loss upon waking in the morning, and felt it
keenly. He declared, however, that he deplored the casualty chiefly
in the interest of his companions, who were thus deprived, at one fell
blow, of his further services; and he cursed very heartily, in the
same interest, the "dastardly red-skins," whom he assumed to be guilty
of the theft.

Dora and her mother waited long and anxiously for a letter from the
doctor's own hand, and after many months it came. It was dated from
"the Heart of the Gold Region," and, after asking them to join him in
due ascriptions of thanks to the Almighty Powers for his deliverance
from many perils and his safe arrival in the promised land, and after
passing lightly over the invaluable services he had been able to
render to his companions in his professional capacity--it was not
for a modest man to dwell upon these--the doctor proceeded to state
frankly that his success in the gold fields had far exceeded his
most sanguine hopes; that, indeed, he might even then call himself an
opulent man, inasmuch as nothing but the necessary papers were wanting
to confirm him in the possession of a half interest in the Big Grizzly
Claim--a claim that promised an enormously rich yield as soon as
arrangements could be perfected for developing it. He advised his
daughter to give up her school at once, and to begin to prepare
herself for that happy change in her circumstances which was now so
near at hand; and he closed by requesting her to send him by return of
mail fifty dollars, and more if she could possibly spare more, as he
urgently required a little money for "present needs."

Is it necessary to say how this clear-headed and conscientious girl
acted upon reading this transparent balderdash? She knew, as well as
you and I know, that the whole thing was a clumsy game of her w