Calgary had promised help, but its former promises had not proved reliable, and in all that vast country few would be found willing to go deep into the heart of the timber lands to nurse the lumber-jacks.
The doctor's Ford chugged to the back door of the Munson farmhouse, where Nettie had been nursing the last of her patients. She was there to meet him, her old plaid cape about her and the woolen tam upon her head. Her face was aglow, and her eyes shone as bright as stars; he had telephoned her to expect him by noon, and had told her to be ready and not keep him waiting.
Nettie had kissed the surviving three little Munsons and their mother, suddenly filled with passionate remorse for her past cruelty to the girl who had now saved their lives. She had shaken hands with the husky voiced father, who had simply and reverently begged God's blessing for her, and to hide her own tears, she had run from them and shut the door between them. Now she was in the Ford, with the robes tucked comfortably about her; breathlessly she squeezed the arm of her old friend.
"Oh, doc, just to think, I'm goin' home now—home to Angel and my baby! Oh, it's just heaven to be here beside you and on our way."
The "doc" had one of the new self-starters and there was no need of cranking this year. They buzzed down the road in the "tin Lizzie," making a great racket and leaving in their wake a malodorous cloud of smoke. For some time they went along in silence, and gradually Nettie's happy mood fell from her as she noted the gravity of the doctor's face. She touched his arm timidly, though her heart began to misgive her.
"Can you really spare me now, doc?"
There was no answer from her old friend, and Nettie pressed his arm, repeating her question.
"Can you, doc?" And then, as still he did not answer: "Is any one else down now?"
"Nettie." Dr. McDermott had slowed up. He tried to hide the anxiety in his face, for he did not intend to ask any further sacrifice of the girl, but he wanted her to know the facts. "Nettie, the Bow Claire Lumber Camp is down."
"The Bow Claire!"