They reached the cabin at daylight. The Boy saw the glow of the flame in the big fireplace through the woods and his heart beat high with new hope. Now that the doctor was here he felt sure her life could be saved.
The Boy stood close by his side when he felt her pulse, and looked at the strange whitish-brown coating on her tongue.
"You can do something, Doctor?" he asked anxiously.
"Yes," was the short answer.
He asked for a towel and bowl and opened his saddlebags. He examined the point of his lancet and bared the slender arm.
"What are ye goin' ter do?" Tom asked with a frown.
"Bleed her, of course. It's the only thing to do——"
The Boy suddenly pushed himself between the doctor and the bed and looked up into his stern face with a resolute stare:
"You shan't do it. I don't know nothin' much about doctorin' but I got sense enough to know that'll kill her—and you shan't do it!"
The doctor looked angrily at the father.