"Never mind," smiled Carleton. "Report to Halstead in the next room to-morrow morning at seven o'clock." P. Walton hesitated, as though to complete his interrupted sentence, and then, with an uncertain look at Regan, turned and walked quietly from the room. Regan wheeled around and stared after the retreating figure. When the door had closed he looked inquiringly at Carleton. "Touched you for a loan, eh?" he volunteered quizzically. "No," said Carleton, still smiling; "a job. I gave him the money as an advance." "More fool you!" said the blunt little master mechanic. "Your security's bad--he'll never live long enough to earn it. What sort of a job?" "Helping Halstead out to begin with," replied Carleton. "H'm!" remarked Regan. "Poor devil." "Yes, Tommy," said Carleton. "Quite so--poor devil." Regan, big-hearted, good-natured for all his bluntness, walked to the front window and watched P. Walton's figure disappear slowly, and a little haltingly, down the platform. The fat little master mechanic's face puckered. "We get some queer cards out here," he said. "He looks as though he'd had a pretty hard time of it--kind of a discard in the game, I guess. Out here to die--pleasant, what? I wonder where he came from?" "He didn't say," said Carleton dryly. "No," said Regan; "I dare say he didn't--none of 'em do. I wonder, though, where he came from?" And in this the division generally were in accord with Regan. They didn't ask--which was outside the ethics; and P. Walton didn't say--which was quite within his rights. But for all that, the division, with Regan, wondered. Ordinarily, they wouldn't have paid much attention to a new man one way or the other, but P. Walton was a little more than just a new man--he was a man they couldn't size up. That was the trouble. It didn't matter who any one was, or where he came from, if they could form an opinion of him--which wasn't hard to form in most instances--that would at all satisfactorily fill the bill. But P. Walton didn't bear the earmarks of a hard case "wanted" East, or show any tendency toward deep theological thought; therefore opinions were conflicting--which wasn't satisfying.