"When will you start?"
Nelson jumped. His face flushed and then paled and he stared with darkening eyes into his companion's countenance.
"You—you're a mind reader," he said at last, trying to laugh.
"I only know what I'd do if I were in your shoes," the civil engineer said. "I know how you feel. I couldn't bear it as well as you have if my—— Well, if anybody belonging to me as Janice does to you, Haley, were taking such a trip."
Nelson groaned. "I don't know what to do. The School Committee will raise a row——"
"Let 'em," Frank said briskly. "You're making it harder for yourself to go by thinking of your duties here. Cut loose! If you went to the hospital with a broken leg they'd have to get along without you. This is a whole lot more important than a broken leg."
"You're right!" groaned Nelson, who felt himself roweled by circumstances. "I must go."
"When?"
"It will have to be after the bank opens to-morrow."
"You'll go from Middletown, then? I'll see if I can get you transportation for part of the way to Chicago at least. You're a member of my family," and Frank grinned.