Five years more reversed the relations between to families. The Minturns still went up, and the Allenders commenced going down. One day, about this time, Mr. Minturn came home from his office, and said to his wife:
"I've got bad news to tell you about our friends the Allenders."
"What is that?" inquired Mrs. Minturn, evincing a good deal of interest, though not exactly of the right kind.
"He's stopped payment."
"What?"
"He failed to meet his notes in bank yesterday, and to-day, I understand, he has called his creditors together."
"I'm sorry to hear that, really," said Mrs. Minturn. "What is the cause?"
"I believe his affairs have been getting involved for the last four or five years. He does not seem to possess much business energy."
"I never thought there was a great deal of life about him."
"He's rather a slow man. It requires more activity and energy of character than he possesses to do business in these times. Men are getting too wide awake. I'm sorry for Allender. He's a good-hearted man—too good-hearted, in fact, for his own interest. But, it's nothing more than I expected."