"That is too bad. Here, give me a memorandum for two dollars, and I will hand you back that amount. Some time when you are in funds you can pay me."
"Thank you!" said Edgar in a tone of relief.
"You are really a better player than I am," went on Schuyler, "but the balls happened to run in my favor. Another evening I shall be the loser."
This was the first of Edgar's acquaintance with Schuyler Hamilton, but it was by no means the last. They got into the way of meeting nearly every night and Edgar ran more and more into Schuyler's debt. However, Hamilton was very easy with him. He accepted memorandums of indebtedness, which somehow seemed a very easy way of paying debts. Edgar did not reflect that a day of reckoning must come at last.
At last Hamilton Schuyler thought it time to bring matters to a crisis.
"Do you know how much you are owing me, Edgar?" he said one evening.
"No," answered Edgar uneasily.
"Seventy-five dollars!"
"It can't be!" exclaimed Edgar, incredulous.
"These things increase faster than you think for," said Schuyler carelessly.