"You don't mean it!"

"Read that letter, Gates," said Walter, pushing it over to his chum.

The letter was, of course, from Doctor Mack, and ran thus:

"DEAR WALTER: Your letter asking for an extra check for one hundred
dollars came to hand three or four days since. I have delayed
answering for two reasons. I am satisfied that you are spending more
money than is necessary, and, moreover, I have shrunk from
communicating to you some unpleasant intelligence. Upon me have
devolved the investment and management of your property, and while I
have tried to be cautious, there have been losses which I regret. In
one case three-fourths of an investment has been lost. Of course, you
didn't know this, or you would have been less free in your
expenditures.

"I am not prepared to tell you how you stand. I think it will be
prudent for you to leave college at the end of this term, and for a
year to seek some employment. During that time I will do what I can to
settle matters on a better footing, and perhaps at the end of that
time you will be able to return to your studies. You are so young--I
think you must be younger than the majority of your classmates--that
you can afford to lose the time.

"I send you a check for sixty dollars in place of a hundred. I wish
you to have your regular term bills sent to me, and I will forward
checks in payment. I will see that you leave Euclid owing no man
anything. When you come home for the vacation we can consult as to the
future. I hope you will not be much depressed or cast down by the news