“My dad hurt!”
The cry came simultaneously from Andy and Randy.
“What happened to him?” questioned Fred and Jack.
“His horse stumbled on the down trail and threw Mr. Rover over his head,” answered the man. “I don’t know but he may have his skull cracked. Some miners picked him up and took him to Longnose’s shack.”
“You mean the Indian called Longnose?” queried Randy, for the boys had heard of such an individual living along Sunset Trail. He was an old man and quite a notorious character, and the lads had thought that some time they might visit him.
“That’s the fellow. They put Mr. Rover to bed and sent one of the men off for a doctor. He was unconscious for a while, but then he began to call out for his sons and for Jack and Fred. One of the men knew about you being in this vicinity and said you were stopping with Cal Corning. So then I rode over to Corning’s place. He wasn’t home, but the women folks there told me that you were on a camping trip and that I could find you either at Dogberry Lake or Gansen Lake. I rode over to Dogberry first, and then I came here. My name is Nick Ocker. I’m from Allways.”
“Will you take us over to my dad?” questioned Andy.
“Sure, I will. I told the other fellows that I’d come back with you. They thought if they couldn’t get the doctor they might get some sort of a wagon and move Mr. Rover over to Allways. He’s west of here, and it would be easier traveling that way than this. The road is better going. Besides that, we’ve got two doctors over there, and one of them, Doc Hendershot, runs a kind of hospital.”
The sad news that the twins’ father had been seriously hurt worried the boys greatly. The twins were the most affected and so worked up they could scarcely prepare themselves for the trip.
“Oh, Jack! suppose he dies?” burst out Andy frantically.