and although the profession did not recognise him, and denounced him
as an empiric, his skill was undoubted. Bushmen had great faith in him,
and would often ride incredible distances in order to bring him
to the bedside of a sick friend. He drank fearfully,
but was seldom incapable of treating a patient; he would, however,
sometimes be found in an obstinate mood and refuse to travel
to the side of a sick person, and then the devil himself
could not make the doctor budge. But for all this he was very generous --
a fact that could, no doubt, be testified to by many a grateful sojourner
in the lonely bush.



II.

The Only Hope


Night came on, and still there was no change in the condition
of the young wife, and no sign of the doctor. Several stockmen
from the neighbouring stations, hearing that there was trouble
at Joe Middleton's, had ridden over, and had galloped off
on long, hopeless rides in search of a doctor. Being generally free
from sickness themselves, these bushmen look upon it as a serious business
even in its mildest form; what is more, their sympathy is always practical
where it is possible for it to be so. One day, while out on the run
after an "outlaw", Joe Middleton was badly thrown from his horse,
and the break-neck riding that was done on that occasion
from the time the horse came home with empty saddle until the rider
was safe in bed and attended by a doctor was something extraordinary,