Ten o'Clock
Why did you let me sleep ? Those old tabbies -- '' `` They must be asleep too , '' said Isabel , indifferently . `` Come out , and I will hold the lantern while you saddle Kaiser . '' Mrs. Haight was hastily putting her parlor in order for the `` Ten o'Clock Five Hundred Club . '' She was without a servant , having had four hired girls and three Japs in the past month ; during the last three days she had cooked for herself and Mr. Haight , `` done all the work , '' and attended seven card parties . Mr. Haight , who had not had his dinner the night before until nine o'clock , and whose steak this morning had been burned and his coffee muddy , had gone down-town in a huff , threatening to move to the hotel unless his wife found a servant or her sanity . Mrs. Haight , who wore a red flannel wrapper trimmed with black lace , which she believed became her style , shook up the sofa-cushions on the divan , where she longed to receive her guests reclining in Oriental voluptuousness , but had never dared , and dusted the table as if she were slapping an enemy 's face .