“Well, forge ahead. For anybody named Trent I’d break my own resolutions a dozen times a day.”
It is probable that the kind-hearted man would have gone anyway, even if he had ridden some miles still farther on an opposite road. The knowledge that somebody was suffering and needing him was an appeal to his professional instinct he would scarcely have resisted, but he had to make a protest first.
All merriment ceased when he entered the cabin on the mesa, and Jessica instinctively sought the reporter’s hand, needing his sympathy during the anxious few minutes that ensued upon the doctor’s arrival. Fra Sebastian and John had followed the surgeon indoors, but Ferd, who had brought the priest to the upland, still remained within the deserted fold, whither he had retreated as soon as his errand was accomplished. To him death of any sort, even that of an animal brought a horrible fear, and nothing would induce him to leave his shelter; till, when the conference was over, Jessica ran to him, exclaiming:
“Cheer up, Ferd! Oh, Ferd! He’s going to live, though, maybe––maybe he will never walk again. Come and see him, Ferd. He wants you. He needs you.”
The dwarf came reluctantly, still adoring his brother and still shrinking from him and the sight of his agony. The examination had been painful, of course; and the condition upon which life might still remain a bitter one. However, it was––life! And to Antonio, at that present moment, that was all he craved.
“We must make a litter or stretcher and take him to the valley. He will need the closest care and watching. He couldn’t stay up here, and have a single chance of recovery. Let’s see, there are five men of us, counting the dwarf. We’ll have to walk with the stretcher, and he shall lead the horses, all but Buster, whom Jessica can ride. One at a time he’ll ‘spell’ us, and the one released will take his place at the beasts,” was the doctor’s decision.
So it was done. A blanket was speedily fastened about two poles drawn from the corral, and over these Pedro’s hard mattress was laid; and thus, placed as comfortably upon it as might be, Antonio was once more conveyed to his old home at Sobrante.
And there, that Sunday night, was wild rejoicing and much speculation concerning the outcome of his confession.
“Sharp’s the man to put the thing in trim. He’s the very chap! He knows all about minerals, and he says that this copper we’ve struck is the very purest article he ever saw! Hurray! Hurray! Three cheers and a tiger for the Sobrante Copper Mine!” shouted the hilarious Marty.