Paul's father had urged this advice upon him from the first. The _March Hare_ must pay its bills as it went along; then its editors would know where they stood. And so each month the boys had plotted out their expenses and kept rigidly within the amount of cash they had in reserve. They had never failed once to have sufficient money to meet their bills. In fact, their parents had enthusiastically applauded their foresight and business ability. And now, suddenly and unaccountably, here they were confronted by an empty treasury. What was to be done? Of course the bill was not large. Fifty dollars was not a tremendous sum. But when you had not the fifty, and no way of getting it, the amount seemed enormous. Then there was the balking enigma of it. How had it happened? "If we only knew what we had done with that hundred, it would not be so bad," groaned Melville. "It makes me furious not to be able to solve the puzzle." "Me, too!" Paul replied gravely. And worse than all was the humiliation of finding they were not such clever business men as they had thought themselves to be. That was the crowning blow! "A hundred dollars--think of it!" said Paul. "If it had been twenty-five! But a cool hundred, Mel!" He broke off speechlessly. "We can't be that amount short," protested Melville for the twentieth time. "We simply can't be. I have not paid one bill that the managing board has not first O.K.-ed. You know how carefully we have estimated our expenses each month. We have kept a nest-egg in the bank, too, all the time, in case we did get stuck. I can't understand it. We haven't branched out into any wild schemes. Of course, after the party we did make those presents to the school; but we looked over the ground and made sure that we could afford to do so." "We certainly thought we could," returned Paul glumly. "Probably, though, we were too generous. Wouldn't people laugh if they knew the mess we are in now!" "Well, they are not going to know it from me," growled Melville. "If I were to tell my father we were in debt he would say it was about what he expected. I wouldn't tell him for a farm down East. And how the freshmen would hoot!" "I don't think my father would kid us," Paul said slowly, "but I know he would be awfully disappointed that we had made a business foozle." "I, for one, say we don't tell anybody," Melville burst out. "I've some pride and I draw the line at having every Tom, Dick, and Harry shouting 'I told you so!' at me. What do you say, Paul, that we keep this thing to ourselves? If we have made a bull of it and got ourselves into a hole, let's get out of it somehow without the whole world knowing it." "But how?" "I don't know," Melville returned. "All I know is I'm not for telling anybody." "But this bill, Melville? What is to become of that?" "We must pay it." "_We_?" "You and I." The room was very still; then Melville spoke again. "Haven't you any ready money, Paul?" "Y--e--s."