"You mean it?" said Walter.

"You can move in tonight," said Bob.

Walter sat quietly for a while. "There's something I have to tell you," he said. "I'm married."

Bob felt a sickness deep inside him.

"I should have told you," Walter said, "but I knew how you felt, and I didn't want to― Well, you've been nice to me, and-"

"It's all right," Bob said dully.

"See, she's back in Minnesota," said Walter. "Her family never liked me, and we had to slip out, and—I got her pregnant. As soon as we were sure, we got married. We kept it a secret because I didn't have a job and we didn't have anywhere to go. This fellow in Los Arboles said I could get a job where he worked, and I sold my car and came out. I thought I could send for Charlene and this far away, he folks would never know we had to get married. But I didn't get the job in Los Arboles, and my friend didn't seem to want me around when I wasn't working. I was at the end of my rope when I met you." They sat on the porch and talked about how much money Walter would be making and how long it would take to save enough to rent a little place and send for Charlene.

Walter grew despondent. "It's no good. I'll either have to make a killing at the races or rob a bank!"

"We're friends, aren't we?" said Bob.

"Yes, but-"

"Didn't you ever think you could come to me?"

"No! You've done too much for me already. I'd be a real louse if I asked you to do any more."

"You're not asking me. I want to help."

Walter closed his eyes for a moment. He said, "When I think of that poor scared kid back there waiting for me to come throughBob, if you could help me get her here, we'd be so damned grateful!"

They looked for a small house, an apartment, even a room, but before they had found anything, Charlene was due to arrive.

"I'd rather she helped decide on a place, anyhow," said Walter. "Is it all right if she stays here until we can look around together?"

"It's your home, too," said Bob.

So Charlene came to Bob's. She was ill from something she'd eaten on the plane. She was upset, too, because breaking away from home had been an ordeal. For several days she kept to her room, and Bob hardly saw her.

Then she emerged, wan but smiling, and thanked Bob very nicely for his hospitality. She was a pretty little thing with big, dark eyes and full, pouting lips.

"You've been such a friend to Walter," she said, "I know we're going to be friends, too."

Later she asked him, "How did you and Walter meet?"

"It was through a mutual friend," he answered.

"Who?" she asked.

"Someone we knew in Los Arboles," he said.

It was a bad moment, but she seemed satisfied, and she didn't ask again.

At first she and Walter went apartment-hunting on week-ends, but after a while they stopped.

"I hope you won't mind if we stay here till after the baby comes." Walter

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