"The miners will hardly pay it if it is a large sum."
"I do not ask them to do so."
"You do not?"
"No."
"I will."
"You?"
"Certainly."
"Pardon me, but you are a young girl, and——"
"A rich one, nevertheless, Doctor Dick. I sent Mr. Brandon to the West on this mission, and he has met with misfortune. I will pay the ransom demanded, take him East, and place him in the care of the most eminent surgeons, that they may aid him if it is possible. You, as a skilled surgeon, for such I have heard you were, might tell me what you deem the chances are for his recovery?"