“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Andy. “That’s a good way to go for a doctor.”
“Huh! Folks up here don’t mind going twice that far,” retorted the hermit. “But hold on! Maybe you can do better than that. Dr. Brown has a patient up here—Old Betsy Blain—about a mile back in the woods,” and he indicated a point back of his log cabin. “The doctor comes to see her twice a week,” the man went on, “and to-day is one of the times. If you hustle over there you may catch him.”
“It’s worth trying, anyhow!” exclaimed Ned. “How can we find the place?”
“There’s a plain trail, back of my shack,” the hermit went on. “You can’t miss it. Betsy’s cabin is the first one you come to. They can tell you there whether the doctor has called to-day or not. If he has, and is gone, you’ll have to go on to his office, I expect.”
“Come on, Andy!” called Ned. “It’s worth a try.”
They tied the motor boat at the small dock near the hermit’s shack, and set off at a fast pace through the woods. As the old man, who said his name was Peter Wantage, had indicated, the trail was a very plain one, and Ned and Andy soon arrived at the cabin in question. In front they saw a horse and carriage tied, and Ned exclaimed:
“The doctor, I’ll wager! We’re in luck.”
“Looks so,” agreed Andy.
And so it proved. An old woman, sitting in front of the cabin, nodded at the boys as they walked up the dirt path. A yellow dog came out, barking at them, but subsided, and wagged his tail in friendly fashion, at a rebuke from the old woman.
“Is the doctor here?” asked Ned.