in his inside coat pocket and drew forth the duplicate of the I. O. U.'s Carmelita had in her desk. "Can't win all the time, you know."
"I cannot pay you now, Mr. Hayden," she said. "You will have to wait." The man was very distasteful to her, aside from his unpleasant mission. Most people to whom we owe money are.
"You have owed us the bill for over a month now. I'd like to see it settled up." He was thrusting his stubby jaw forward now and showed signs of getting considerably more troublesome.
"If you will wait—" she began helplessly. Oh, why did these crises have to come all at once, without a chance of recovery between them? She was at her wit's end. She suddenly remembered the words of Rao-Singh that evening before her birthday party, "If ever your creditors become unmanageable," he had assured her, "just come to me." No, she couldn't do that—as a last resource possibly. That burning kiss the night before—even now it brought a blush to her cheek.
Hayden was speaking in a cold tone, "Then I am sorry, madame, but you force us to present the bill to your husband for collection. We don't like to do it and it may be very embarrassing to both of us—but it seems to be the only way out."
