Newman

The appellant commenced this action against the respondents to recover from them their proportion of an indebtedness due to him from the Nickell Investment Company, a corporation. The respondents are sued as stockholders of the corporation. The respondents by answer admit the existence of the indebtedness by the corporation and their liability as stockholders and plead the statute of limitations. The facts of the matter are stated in the findings substantially as follows:

In April, 1911, the corporation purchased from the appellant a certain tract of real property situated in the city of Sacramento, for the agreed price of forty-eight thousand dollars, and at the same time paid on the purchase price thereof the sum of thirteen thousand dollars in cash and executed its promissory notes in the sums of five thousand dollars and thirty thousand dollars, respectively. As security for the payment of the two promissory notes, it executed its trust deed to trustees conveying the premises purchased. On March 19, 1917, the notes remaining wholly unpaid, the corporation executed to the appellant one new note for the entire indebtedness of thirty-five thousand dollars and secured the payment…