“He says he'll pay pretty soon,” he observed plaintively. “He's been sayin' it for over a year, though.”
“Humph!” grunted Shadrach. “There's only a difference of one letter between 'sayin'' and 'payin',' but there ain't but two between 'trust' and 'bust.'”
Mary spoke. “Never mind,” she said. “I shall see Mr. Clifford myself. And I shall see some of these others, too. Now about our own bills—those we owe. I have a list of the principal creditors. Mr. Green's firm is one of them; we owe them most of all, it seems. I think I shall go and see Mr. Green myself.”
“For the land sakes, what for?” demanded Shadrach. “He knows how we're fixed, Zoeth wrote him.”
“Yes, but I want to talk with him, nevertheless.”
“But what for? You ain't goin' beggin' him to—”
“I'm not going begging at all. When I talked with him at the Howes' he, not knowing in the least who I was or that I was your niece, expressed sympathy for Hamilton and Company and wished there were some way of helping us out of our trouble—something he could do, you know. I'm not sure there isn't something he can do. At any rate, I am going to see him. I shall start for Boston Monday morning.”
Zoeth ventured an observation.
“He'll be considerable surprised to see you, won't he?” he said.
Mary laughed. “I think he will,” she replied. “Surprised and a little embarrassed. But I imagine his embarrassment will make him all the more anxious to be of service to me, and that's what I want from him—service.”