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As the doctor had been serving notice of his intention to quit

doctoring for over ten years, Arlie did not take him too

seriously. She knew him for what he was--a whimsical old fellow,

who would drop in the saddle before he would let a patient

suffer; one of the old school, who loved his work but liked to

grumble over it.

"Maybe you'll be able to take a rest soon. You know that young

doctor from Denver, who was talking about settling here----"

This, as she knew, was a sore point with him. "So you're tired of

me, are you? Want a new-fangled appendix cutter from Denver, do

you? Time to shove old Doc Lee aside, eh?"

"I didn't say that, doc," she repented.

"Huh! You meant it. Wonder how many times he'd get up at midnight

and plow through three-foot snow for six miles to see the most

ungrateful, squalling little brat----"

"Was it me, doc?" she ungrammatically demanded.

"It was you, Miss Impudence."