Barclay stood before him a second and then walked down one arm of the "X" of the carpet and back, and up another, and then turned to Hendricks with: "Now, don't lose your nerve, General. You've got to keep your nerve. That's about all the asset we've got now, I guess." The general replied weakly: "I--I, I--I guess you're right, John. I suppose that's about it." "How do you figure it out, General?" asked Barclay, still walking the carpet. The general fumbled for a paper in his pocket and handed it to Barclay. He took it, glanced at it a moment, and then said: "I'm no good at translating another man's figures--how is it in short?--Right down to bed-rock?" Hendricks seemed to pull himself together and replied: "Well, something like ten thousand in cash against seventy thousand in deposits, and fifty thousand of that time deposits, due next October, you know, on the year's agreement. Of the ten thousand cash, four thousand belongs to Brownwell, and is on check, and you have two thousand on check." "All right. Now, General, what do you owe?" "Well, you know that guarantee of your and Bob's business--that nine thousand. It's due next week." "And it will gut you?" asked Barclay. The old man nodded and sighed. Barclay limped carefully all over his "X," swinging himself on his heels at the turns; his mouth was hardening, and his eyes were fixed on the old man without blinking as he said: "General--that's got to come. If it busts you--it will save us, and we can save you after. That has just absolutely got to be paid, right on the dot." The old man could not have turned paler than he was when he entered the room, but he rose halfway in his chair and shook his leonine head, and then let his hands fall limply on his knees as he cried: "No--no, John--I can't. I can't." Barclay put his hand on the back of the old man's chair, and he could feel the firm hard grip of the boy through his whole frame. Then after a moment's pause Barclay said: "General, I'm in earnest about that. You will either mail those dividend certificates according to your guarantee on the first, or as sure as there is a God in heaven I'll see that you won't have a dollar in your bank on the night of the second." The old man stood gasping. The eyes of the two men met. Barclay's were bold and green and blazing.