He could see her waiting for him at the door with her customary kiss. Hang it! how was he going to break the news to her? If he had n't been so asininely cock-sure!--a "cinch," he thought contemptuously. He'd talked "cinch" to her so much that he'd almost come to believe it himself. But, after all, must he tell her to-night? Why not temporize? Say McLaughlin was out of town? Also it would never do to tell her that he'd been afraid to go to the boss. But she'd have to know it sometime, why not right away? Like having a tooth out, it was better done at once. The thought of Honey's disappointment was overshadowed by an awful realization that suddenly came to Skinner. How could he square the fact that McLaughlin & Perkins, Inc., had turned him down with the way he'd bragged about his value to the firm? Skinner frowned deeply. McLaughlin had no business to refuse him--a percentage of the money he handled was his by rights. Somehow he felt that he had been denied that which was his own. What would Honey think of him? He could n't bear the idea of falling in her esteem. He pondered a bit. By Jove, he _would n't_ fall in her esteem. He sat up straight from his slouching position and squared his shoulders. He would n't disappoint her, either! Everybody had disappointed him, but that was no reason why he should disappoint _her_! He suddenly laughed aloud. If they would n't raise his salary, he'd take things into his own hands. He'd be independent of the firm. He'd raise it himself. If he were going to lie to Honey, why not lie to some effect? He sat back, chuckling! Why hadn't he thought of it before? It would be dead easy! He'd raise himself five dollars a week! All he had to do was to take it out of his own bank account. Every week he'd cash a check for five dollars in New York. He always kept his personal check-book in the firm's safe. When he handed Honey his salary, he would give her the "extra five" to deposit to the credit of their account in the Meadeville National. It would work out beautifully. Nobody would be any the wiser and if nobody would be any the richer, surely nobody would be any the poorer, and--he would not have to disappoint Honey.