Horatio Alger

“ This was lit, and the two hurried up the trail to the wreck of the cabin.
Hiram Bodley was resting where Joe had left him. He was breathing with difficulty and did not at first recognize the doctor.
"Take it off!" he murmured. "Take it off! It is--is crushing th--the life out of--of me!"
"Mr. Bodley--Hiram, don't you know me?" asked Doctor Gardner, kindly.
"Oh! So it's you? I guess you can't do much, doctor, can you? I--I'm done for!" And a spasm of pain crossed the sufferer's face.
"While there is life there is hope," answered the physician, noncommittally. ”

“ At these words the tears sprang into the boy's eyes and it was all he could do to keep from crying outright. Even though the old hermit had been rough in his ways, Joe thought a good deal of the man.
"Cannot you do something, doctor," he pleaded.
"Not here. We might do something in a hospital, but he would not survive the journey. He is growing weaker every moment. Be brave, my lad. It is a terrible trial, I know, but you must remember that all things are for the best."
Joe knelt beside the sufferer and took hold of his hand. Hiram Bodley looked at him and then at the doctor. ”

“ He cleaned the craft out, hid the oars in the usual place, and then, with his fishing lines in one hand and a good sized fish in the other, started up the trail leading to the place that he called home.
"What a place to come to, alongside of the one Ned lives in," he said to himself. ”