"Oh," said I, "I wrote you about this yesterday."
"I know," said Peck calmly. "I'm the answer to your letter. I have come for a check."
"But I told you," I replied, rather irritably, "that I couldn't give it to you just now, and that you would have to wait a little!"
"Mr. Black," he returned, "will you tell me if there is any reason why we should wait for our money when you pay every one else?" His voice retained its even tone.
"Yes, I will," I replied, getting hot, "because you are getting the bulk of my business, and, as I am doing as much as I can for you, you have got to do as much as you can for me!"
"Suppose I should tell you, Mr. Black," he said, "that we gave you credit, in the first place, merely because Mr. Barlow spoke so well of you. We certainly didn't give it to you on the reputation of the store you bought."
I winced at this.
"Remember," he continued, "that Simpson deceived us the same as he did everybody else, so that the business, as such, doesn't justify any credit, does it?"
I turned around sharply, and said:
"I am not asking you to give credit to the business. I am asking you to give credit to me, and—"