But the boy had not completed his message.  Ignacio was sick and did not wish to die, and so had sent him to ask the Miss Lady Doctor to come to him.  Virginia rose swiftly.

“You see,” she said to Mrs. Engle, “what a nuisance it would be if I lived with you?  May I come to see you to-morrow?”

While she said good night Engle got his hat.

“I’ll go with you,” he said.  “But, like Patten, I don’t believe there is much the matter with Chavez.  Maybe he thinks he’ll get a free drink of whiskey.”

“You see again,” laughed Virginia from the doorway, “what it would be like, Mrs. Engle; if every time I had to make a call and Mr. Engle deemed it necessary to go with me . . .  I’d have to split my fees with him at the very least!  And I don’t believe that I could afford to do that.”

“You could give me all that Ignacio pays you,” chuckled Engle, “and never miss it!”

The boy waited for them and, when they came out into the starlight, flitted on ahead of them.  At the cottonwoods a man stepped out to meet them.

“Hello,” said Engle, “it’s Norton.”

“I sent the boy for Miss Page,” said Norton quickly.  “I had to have a word with her immediately.  And I’m glad that you came, Engle.  I want a favor of you; a mighty big favor of Miss Page.”

The boy had passed on through the shadows and now was to be seen on the street.

“I guess you know you can count on me, Rod,” said Engle quietly.  “What now?”

“I want you, when you go back to the house, to say that you have learned that Miss Page likes horseback riding; then send a horse for her to the hotel stable, so that if she likes she can have it in the early morning.  And say nothing about my having sent the boy.”

Engle did not answer immediately.  He and Virginia stood trying to see the sheriff’s features through the darkness.  He had spoken quietly enough and yet there was an odd new note in his voice; it was easy to imagine how the muscles about his lean jaw had tensed, how his eyes were again the hard eyes of a man who saw his fight before him.

“I can trust you, John,” continued Norton quickly.  “I can trust Ignacio Chavez; I can trust Julius Struve.  And, if you want it in words of one syllable, I cannot trust Caleb Patten!”

“Hm,” said Engle.  “I think you’re mistaken there, my boy.”

“Maybe,” returned Norton.  “But I can’t afford right now to take any unnecessary chances.  Further,” and in the gloom they saw his shoulders lifted in a shrug, “I am trusting Miss Page because I’ve got to!  Which may not sound pretty, but which is the truth.”

“Of course I’ll do what you ask,” Engle said.  “Is there anything else?”

“No.  Just go on with Miss Page to see Ignacio.  He will pretend to be doubled up with pain and will tell his story of the tinned meat he ate for supper.  Then you can see her to the hotel and go back home, sending the horse over right away.  Then she will ride with me to see a man who is hurt . . . or she will not, and I’ll have to take a chance on Patten.”