It was a severe disappointment, but Jacob had become used to hard knocks, and he did not lose heart. He left college and secured a position as a travelling salesman at fifteen dollars a week. It was not much, but he determined to succeed--and he did. He travelled all over the United States, Canada and Mexico, and he made friends and did business, wherever he went. So hard did he work at this that he became the most successful salesman his firm had on the road. Then one day a friend told him that there was room for a new paper-mill near Kalamazoo, Michigan. After investigating the situation he decided to try the venture and so he began the mills--just two miles from Kalamazoo--where now stands the town of Parchment. Success in the new venture did not come quickly. There were many discouragements and setbacks, but all his life Jacob Kindleberger had faced difficulties and they had always served to increase his determination. He worked at those new mills as hard--or harder--than any man on the job. He even shovelled coal in the boiler-room to cut down expenses. He was the first on the job in the morning, and the last to quit at night. One day on a railway train, he overheard a lady say that she had tried everywhere to get a certain kind of shelf-paper but without success. That gave him an idea. Immediately he began to manufacture that kind of paper and sold it in great quantities. Soon the tide turned and success came. The machinery of the mills was improved and the output of paper increased daily. Homes were built for the employees, and before long Parchment was a good-sized town. A fine school was built, a church, a community house, large playgrounds, and everything has been done with a view to have the people of that town comfortable, contented and happy. Some time ago in the _American Magazine_, Mr. W. S. Dutton told of a visit he paid to Parchment and of his impressions. The mills, he said, are among the largest and most scientifically equipped in the world. They represent, at present, an investment of more than seven million dollars. From the large machines, beautiful white writing paper rolls out at the rate of seven hundred feet a minute, and Mr. Kindleberger hopes to have this output increased to one thousand feet a minute. Jacob Kindleberger has never forgotten the debt he owes to church and Sunday School. As soon as the first house was built in Parchment a Sunday School was started and there is a fine church in the town. For fourteen years Mr. Kindleberger has been the teacher of the Adult Bible Class and no man could be more loved and respected. The half-blind immigrant boy who began life almost without any education, has become one of the most successful business men, and one of the noblest Christian gentlemen, on this continent. CHAPTER XIII KINDERGARTEN PUPIL AT TWENTY-FIVE: COLLEGE PROFESSOR AT FIFTY