There was no check.

He read the letter, skimming it line by line, dashing through the editor's praise of his story to the meat of the letter, the statement why the check had not been sent.

He found no such statement, but he did find that which made him suddenly wilt.

The letter slid from his hand.

His eyes went lack-lustre, and he lay back on the pillow, pulling the blanket about him and up to his chin.
Five dollars for "The Ring of Bells"-- five dollars for five thousand words! Instead of two cents a word, ten words for a cent! And the editor had praised it, too.