's going to be a delicate matter."

"Do you think so? I hadn't thought of that. Surely Walter can manage it.
He will have to take it."

"I think you will find it is not so easy. It seemed to me last winter
that Mr. Bauer was about the most stubborn and independent young man I
ever saw."

"But what can he do? He can't help himself. He will have to take it."

"Leave it to Walter to manage," said Esther. "He is better acquainted
with him than we are."

So Paul wrote Walter, enclosing a check for $400, and asking him to
manage the matter with Bauer the best he could, and at the same time he
wrote to Masters telling him of Bauer and making inquiry about the
climate and especially concerning the possibility of Bauer fitting into
any work about the mission.

After Paul had gone away from the table to his office to attend to this
matter, Esther took out Helen's money and quietly handed it to her.

"You won't need to offer this now."

"No, not now," said Helen, blushing.

"Nor any time, I hope. If Mr. Bauer gets well there at Tolchaco he will
probably be able to secure permanent work and take care of himself."

"Yes," Helen said, after a pause in which she seemed to her mother about
to make a confidence. But she did not seem quite certain of herself and
finally without any more words went up to her room.

Two days later Walter received his father's letter which he read with a
sense of great rejoicing.

"Why, it's just like a story book! Dear old pater! He's the best ever!"

Then he took up the check and began to consider how he would present the
matter to Bauer. No one knew better than himself how sensitive Bauer
could be on occasion. But he was helpless, and under the circumstances,
what else could he do but let his friends come to his assistance? If
there was no other way he could probably be prevailed on to take the
money as a loan and pay back when his royalties came due on the
incubator sales.

He was going over the matter when Bauer came in from his room across the
hall.

"How goes it?" asked Walter cheerfully.

"All right," said Bauer gravely. "I don't believe anything ails me.
Haven't had another since the last one."

"No? Well, what you want to do is to get right out to the painted
desert. Why don't you start?"

"The walking is poor, and I never did enjoy the hot, dusty cars."

"Letters!" said one of the boys who roomed on the next floor. He opened
the door as he spoke and threw Walter two letter