time. I must get back by three
o'clock. Is there any chance of pulling off my forlorn hope? If not,
we'll close our doors to-morrow."

"Do you actually mean that, Thatcher?"

"Exactly that. I don't advise you to do this unless you're fixed so that
you can carry things comfortably, for I tell you we're in for a crisis;
but if you can, it's the opportunity of a lifetime, and by sacrificing
my personal interests I can save my house."

"How much do you need?"

"Half a million, in cash. I'm that much short of what I must have to see
me through. It might as well be a billion!"

"What do you offer for it?"

"Five million in Consolidated Machinery stock."

Cosden whistled and then became contemplative, while Thatcher waited
eagerly for his reply. The hesitation in itself was encouraging, for it
indicated that Cosden could raise the money if he cared to do it.

"As a matter of fact, Thatcher," Cosden said at length, "I've been
laying my pipes for just this moment ever since the trouble began, and
I'm fixed where I can handle it all right; but I don't quite like the
proposition as it stands."

"Then make your own proposition."

"I've counted on having my available cash earn me something handsome, of
course; but I don't think I'd enjoy my profits much if I got them by
cleaning you out."

"We must forget friendship and all else at a time like this," Thatcher
cried. "For God's sake, man, if you can do it, don't stand on any
foolish sentiment! It may ruin me, but my house will weather the storm.
I ask it as a favor."

"How soon must you have the money?"

"By to-morrow."

"All right; I'll give you drafts to take back to New York."

"Thank God!" Thatcher exclaimed feverishly. "And you'll take the stock?"

"No, I don't want the stock. Give me your note."

"But I haven't a dollar's worth of collateral to put up with it.
Everything I own is pledged."

"Damn the collateral! The signature will be genuine, won't it? That's
good enough for me."

"You advance it simply as a loan?"

"Of course. Now let's get the drafts fixed up, and you run back to New
York and keep your finger on the pulse of the market."

"You're sacrificing the chance of your life, Cosden," Thatcher
exclaimed. "Why should you do this for me?"

"I don't quite understand it myself," Cosden admitted; "but as long as I
want to why not make the most of it? I might change my mind."

"And we've always said you were a hard man, Cosden!" Thatcher exclai