"What's wanted, Mrs. Jones?" asked Stephen, uncomfortably, for he could guess what his landlady wished to see him about.
"I'd be thankful, Mr. Palmer, if you'd pay me your rent. You're owin' for two weeks and a half, and I need the money very much."
"I can't pay you to-night," said Stephen.
"That's what you're always a-sayin'. Didn't you promise me the money last Tuesday, when the two weeks was up?"
"I've been disappointed of some money that I expected," muttered Palmer. "If I had it I'd give it to you."
"That don't pay for my groceries and fuel," said Mrs. Jones, evidently much dissatisfied with his answer.
"If you'll pay me some money on account," said the landlady, beginning to understand the character of her lodger, "I'll wait a little longer."
"I tell you I haven't got any money by me, except this," and Stephen drew out the dime which constituted his sole wealth. "I suppose you don't want that."
"No, you don't. I ain't going to strip myself of every penny to oblige a cormorant of a lodging-house keeper."
"Is that all you've got to say to me, Mr. Palmer?" asked Mrs. Jones, indignantly.
"What more do you want? Don't I promise to pay you when I have the money?"
"Do you do any work?" demanded the landlady. "Do you earn anything?"
"That's my affair. However, I don't mind telling you that I--speculate."
"Speculate--on ten cents!" retorted the landlady, in a sarcastic tone.
"All my capital's locked up in stocks at present," said Stephen, with ready falsehood. "I may have five hundred dollars coming in next week."
"I don't know whether to believe you or not," said Mrs. Jones, with justifiable skepticism.
"Do you doubt the word of a gentleman?" blustered Stephen.
"If you call yourself a gentleman, act accordin'. I've got just one thing to say, Mr. Palmer--if you don't pay me three weeks' lodgin' by next Tuesday, out you go, or my name isn't Jones. I can't afford to let my rooms to them as don't pay me."
"It'll be all right next Tuesday," said Stephen, glad of the reprieve. "There's two or three parties that owe me more than the amount of your bill, but they don't pay up."
This was an utter fabrication, as there was no one in the city or elsewhere whom Stephen could rightfully claim as a debtor, but then a regard for truth was not one of his strong points.