re say what can or cannot be done in the great
universe of electricity?"

"But it would throw out a great army of stenographer girls and that
would be a pity. Only, you know," said Helen demurely, "Walter could
marry one of them and you could marry another. That would take care of
two of them."

Bauer stared, and then blushed furiously and finally laughed.

"Walter has been taking my name------"

"Not in vain," interrupted Helen. "I thought your suggestion for the
talking machine was fascinating. I don't suppose you are working at
that, are you?"

"No. I haven't got that far yet."

"Can you tell me if you are working on some new thing?"

"I don't mind." Bauer got up and pulled a piece of paper towards him and
began to sketch something. Helen got up and went to the end of the table
where she could see better.

"There, Miss Douglas. This is my idea for a chicken raiser."

"An incubator?"

"Yes. You see this dome is glass, very much like those domes the glass
blowers make to put over their glass ships and flowers. The bottom here
is wood. The eggs are placed on it in even rows. Here is a hole in the
bottom through which the electric lamp is put. A thermostat will
regulate the temperature to a fraction of any degree. And--that is all
there is to it except to try it on the eggs to see if they will really
hatch out."

"I don't see how they could help it!" said Helen enthusiastically.

"I don't either. There's only one thing I can see that is essential."

"What is that?" Helen asked eagerly.

"The eggs will have to be good," said Bauer solemnly.

Helen in her eagerness to see the drawing, had edged around the table
and her face was near Bauer's as she bent over the drawing. She stared
at Bauer's solemn face a moment and then burst out laughing, at the same
time moving back to the end of the table.

"I believe you are making fun of me," she said. In reality there was a
part of Bauer's nature which was unexpected. His quiet habits and his
slow speech were apt to give an impression of dullness of intellect and
lack of mental quickness. Helen was finding out that Bauer was in many
ways the quickest of all her acquaintances. And he had a fund of
smileless humour that came as a surprise even to those who thought they
knew him best.

"No, I was not making fun of you," said Bauer. As a matter of fact, he
was on the defensive with his own feelings, trying by any means to beat
them down into the lonesome place wher