, one
of whom you have seen before. Prepare for an appetite long denied the
joys of home cooking.--D. G."

It was not until after the child had gone home that Grant remembered he
had addressed Transley's wife by her Christian name. That was the way he
always thought of her, and it slipped on to paper quite naturally. Well,
it couldn't be helped now.

Grant unhitched early and hurried to his house and the telephone. In a
few minutes he had Linder on the line.

"Hello, Linder? I want you to go to a store for me and buy a
teddy-bear."

The chuckle at the other end of the line irritated Grant. Linder had a
strange sense of humor.

"I mean it. A big teddy, with electric eyes, and a deep bass growl, if
they make 'em that way. The best you can get. Fetch it out to-morrow
afternoon, and come decently dressed, for once. Bring Murdoch along if
you can pry him loose."

Grant hung up the receiver. "Stupid chap, Linder, some ways," he
muttered. "Why shouldn't I buy a teddy-bear if I want to?"

Sunday afternoon saw the arrival of Linder and Murdoch, with the largest
teddy the town afforded. "What is the big idea now?" Linder demanded, as
he delivered it into Grant's hands.

"It is for a little boy I know who has been bereaved of his first
teddy by the activities of the family pig. You will renew some pleasant
acquaintanceships, Linder. You remember Transley and his wife--Zen, of
the Y.D?"

"You don't say! Thanks for that tip about dressing up. I may explain,"
Linder continued, turning to Murdoch, "there was a time when I might
have been an also-ran in the race for Y.D.'s daughter, only Transley
beat me on the getaway."

"You!" Grant exclaimed, incredulously.

"You, too!" Linder returned, a great light dawning.

"Well, Mr. Grant," said Murdoch, "I brought you a good cigar, bought at
the company's expense. It comes out of the organization fund. You must
be sick of those cheap cigars."

"Since the war it is nothing but Player's," Grant returned, taking
the proffered cigar. "They tell me it has revolutionized the tobacco
business. However, this does smell a bit all right. How goes our
venture, Murdoch? Have I any prospect of being impoverished in a worthy
cause?"

"None whatever. Your foreman here is spending every dollar in a way
to make you two in spite of your daft notion--begging your pardon,
sir--about not taking profits. The subscribers are coming along for
stock, but fingering it gently, as though they can't