"Stuff! Of course you can take it! I should like to know whose money you would take if not mine. Anyway you can't help yourself. I have you in my power now and you've got to do just as I say." "But I don't see how I can ever pay it back, Peter." "No matter." "It does matter." "Well, well! We will settle all that later. Don't worry about it. I am only too thankful that I have the money to help you out," was Peter's earnest response. "I'd be a great kind of a chum if I didn't stick by you when you are in a hole like this. You'd do the same for me." "You bet I would!" "Of course! Well, what's the difference?" "I'm afraid I'll have to take you at your word, Peter," agreed Nat reluctantly, after an interval of reflection. "I do not just see what else I can do at present." "That's the way to talk," cried Peter triumphantly. "I'll look out for everything. See! They have come with a motor-car to take you to the hospital! You are going to have your long-coveted ride in an automobile, Nat." Nat laughed in spite of himself. "I'm not so keen about it as I was." Gently the men lifted him in and the doctor followed. "I'll be out in a week, Peter--sure thing!" called Nat shutting his lips tightly together to stifle a moan as the car shot ahead. "A week, indeed!" sniffed Bryant, as he turned away. "It'll be nearer a month. So Jackson has a mother to look after, has he?" "Yes, sir." "Well, suppose you go right over there and ease her mind about this accident before she hears of it through somebody else. Tell her there is no cause for alarm. The boy will have the best of care at the hospital, and she can go there and see him every day during visiting hours." "And you think it will be a month before he will be about again, Mr. Bryant?" questioned Peter, anxiously. "Oh, I'm no doctor. How can I tell?" was Bryant's somewhat testy answer. "One thing is certain, however; he won't be here again this week. Sprint along."