Mr. Lawrence did not reply. He had evidently not heard more than
half of his wife's last remark. In a little while he left the table,
saying, as he rose, that he had some business requiring his
immediate attention. Mrs. Lawrence glanced toward the door that
closed after her husband with a troubled look, and sighed.

From his dwelling Mr. Lawrence hurried to his store, and spent an
hour there in examining his account books, and in making
calculations. At five o'clock he met the directors of the insurance
company, of which he was still president, at an extra meeting. All
had grave faces. There was a statement of the affairs of the company
upon the table around which they were gathered. It showed that in
the next two weeks post-notes, amounting in all to one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, would fall due; while not over fifty
thousand dollars in bills receivable, maturing within that time,
were on hand, and the available cash resources of the company were
not over five thousand dollars. The time was, when by an extra
effort the sum needed could have been easily raised. But extra
efforts had been put forth so often of late, that the company had
exhausted nearly all its resources.

"I do not understand," remarked one of the directors, looking up
from the statement he had been carefully examining, "how there can
be a hundred and fifty thousand dollars of post-notes due so soon,
and only fifty thousand dollars in bills receivable maturing in the
same time. If I am not mistaken, the post-notes were never issued
except against bills having a few days shorter time to run. How is
this, Mr. Lawrence?"