Dr Tom looked at him, and it dawned upon him that he had been summoned to Barker's Creek under false pretences. It was not a woman and child who needed his aid, but Abe Dalton himself.
'So it was a lie,' he blurted out.
'What's a lie?'
'That hound you sent to me, said a woman and child were ill.'
'Don't you call my men hounds,' growled Dalton.
'I call them by their proper names. Perhaps curs would be better,' said Dr Tom.
Even Abe Dalton winced at the cutting tones.
'I'm devilish bad, doctor,' he said, 'and I was afraid you would not come if I sent for you to attend me. Now you are here, it is not worth while going back without trying your hand on me,' said Dalton.
'You will get no assistance from me,' said Dr Tom. 'I would prefer to kill rather than cure you, and the country would be well rid of you.'
'But I am real bad,' groaned Abe Dalton. 'Can't you see I'm bad?'