"Excuse me," he said to the girls, "I knocked, but you did not seem to hear. Possibly there was too much noise," and he looked at the man significantly. "Is there any trouble here?" the young moving picture operator asked.
"Oh, Russ, make him—make him go!" begged Alice, half sobbing. "He wants to see my father—it's some sort of unjust money claim—and he wants to enforce it. Father has gone out——"
"And that's just where this person is going!" announced Russ, advancing toward the man.
"What's that?" demanded Merley in an ugly tone.
"I said you were going out. It's your cue to move!"
"I don't move until I get my five hundred dollars," answered the visitor. "I've waited for it long enough."
"My father paid you!" protested Ruth.
"I say he did not!" and again the man banged the table with his fist.
"Well, whether he did or not is a question for you and Mr. DeVere to settle," said Russ, in firm tones. "You will kindly leave these young ladies alone."