'How do I know I can trust you?' asked Dr Tom. 'An oath from such a man is worthless.'
'I'd not dare to take a false oath, when I might die in a couple of days,' groaned Dalton.
Dr Tom thought this probable. Even if Abe Dalton recovered, he might, for once in a way, keep his oath; at anyrate he would risk it, and Jim Dennis would be safe from the gang.
'I am willing to trust you this time,' said Dr Tom. 'I can pull you through; but, mind, if you break your word, I'll never leave you until I have put a halter round your neck. There's evidence enough to hang you on, if it is only hunted up.'
He gave Abe Dalton a draught, and waited until he was asleep, then he went outside and breathed more freely.
A cluster of men, members of Dalton's gang, stood round the buggy. They seemed anxious about their leader, for he was the cleverest of them all, and if he went they knew there would be trouble amongst themselves before another chief was elected. It would be a shooting matter probably, and some of them would lose their lives.
The man Dalton had sent to Swamp Creek to tell Dr Tom a woman and child were ill, stepped forward and said,—
'How is he? Will he pull through?'
'Yes,' said Dr Tom, 'with care; but he must be kept quiet. Now, you fellows, first listen to me. I am doctoring Abe Dalton on one condition, a condition he has sworn to fulfil. He has promised that none of his gang shall molest or harm, in any way, Jim Dennis or his belongings. Do you hear that?'
The men looked sullen. None of them had any liking for Jim Dennis, for he was more than a match for them, and they did not like being beaten.