n't make them any whiter than John
Blair," he said.

Gregory agreed.

"I knew him only slightly," he said. "But I surely counted on him. His
loss means a lot to me. I'll go up there right away and see if there is
anything I can do. Would you like to go with me?"

McCoy could only nod and the two men left the building together.

The hearts of men are tested in various crucibles. In a smoothly-moving
world human paths diverge and the grooves are often widened by
indifference. In times of stress, the diverse threads of commonplace
existence may merge into a single strand. Then it is that casual
acquaintances become friends, when man rubs elbow with man and hearts
beat together in mutual sympathy and understanding.

Jack McCoy returned to Legonia saddened by the loss of an old friend;
gladdened by the belief that he had found a new one. It was not what
Gregory had done that made the difference to McCoy; simply the way he
had done it. Any man with money could have defrayed the expenses of
Blair's sickness and funeral. But it took a real man to make the
gratuity appear as a favor to the donor.

When he met Gregory at the cannery the morning after their return to
Legonia, McCoy was not slow in admitting that he was strong for the
boss.

"If we had time, Jack," Gregory was saying, "there is nothing I'd rather
do right now than give you a week off on full pay. But you know what
that would mean to us at this time. Before we start in I want to make
you another proposition."

As the foreman said nothing, he asked bluntly: "How would you like the
job as house manager?"

"Fine," McCoy answered. "Do you think I could cut it?"

"Do you?"

"Yes," McCoy answered with no hesitation.

"All right then," Gregory answered in the same manner. "So do I. You've
got a real job ahead of you. Minutes are going to count in the next few
days. The next batch of my service men are due to-morrow."

McCoy jumped up. "That means a day's work for me," he exclaimed, and
hurried out.

Gregory glanced at his watch. The next thing to be done was to see
Dickie Lang. The matter of securing fish was of cardinal importance. The
girl would be at the dock about this time. It would afford him a good
chance to make his proposal while she was getting the fish ready for
shipment.

Some time after Gregory had left the cannery, Barnes reported he was out
of carborundum and McCoy set out at once for Legonia.

"They'd be all day sending it up," he said