“What does Dempsey say?” persisted the senior Kalin. “It’s out of his line,” answered Albert, to whom the question was addressed. “If five thousand would straighten the thing out, he might risk it, but he wouldn’t put up a cent more than that, and he’d want a twenty-five per cent. interest in the business for that sum.” “And, if we can save it, the thing is worth a fortune,” groaned Jonas. “We’ve got a start already, and there’s almost no limit to the possibilities. It ought to be worth fifty thousand a year inside of three years. He doesn’t want much.” “Well, he’s out of the question, anyway,” said Sidney. “We’ve got to have twenty-five thousand, and we’ve got to have it mighty soon.” “My life insurance is more than that,” mused Jonas. “What good does that do?” retorted Sidney rather sharply. “Even if you wanted to surrender it, the cash surrender value is less than ten thousand at the present time.” “That would help,” argued Jonas. “Nothing will help that doesn’t put the full sum needed within our reach,” asserted Albert. “We’re about due to begin life over again with a little less than nothing.” “I’ll think it over,” said Jonas, rising and wearily reaching for his hat. “I’ve always weathered the storms before. Perhaps I’ll find a way to weather this one.” Jonas Kalin once had been accounted a successful real estate man, but he had lost a good deal of money in speculation, and the time and thought he gave to speculation had had an injurious effect upon his business. One of the sons had been for a time in the employ of a manufacturer of fountain pens. Later the elder Kalin had started both boys, as an independent firm, in that line of business, their pen differing sufficiently from others to avoid any infringement of patents on patented features. They had made no great amount of money, indeed barely a living income, but they had kept out of debt until Sidney invented a machine for finishing the shell or case of the pen. His experiments had been rather costly, and the machine had been costly to construct, but he had convinced his father that it was a good thing, and Jonas had given up his dwindling real estate business and put what money he had left into his sons’ firm, becoming a partner in the enterprise. Even then it had been found necessary to borrow twenty-five thousand dollars in order to establish the business on the new and larger basis, giving a mortgage on the entire plant, which included the new machine, and this mortgage had passed into the hands of a more prosperous business rival at a time when the value of the invention was just becoming apparent. This invention largely reduced the cost of production, but the exploiting so far done, although expensive and reasonably successful, had not enabled the Kalins to accumulate anything to meet their obligation. Indeed, believing they would have no difficulty in securing an extension, they had not worried about this until they found themselves in the power of a rival.