EATING LAST WEEK'S MEALS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3887, 4 January 1884, Page 4

EATING LAST WEEK'S MEALS.

He was a ragged and unkempt-looking person, and very profuse in his thank s for the coin which the reporter had just given him. "Think you, sir, very sincerely — this will buy me last —Tuesday—week's dinner, I think." Then, aftfr a pause, "Yes, I had Tuesday week's breakfast yesterday afternoon, and this will bring me up to Tuesday night. You see, I'm near on to a fortnight behind now, but that ain't much,"

" What is not much ? I don't quite catch your meaning." " Why, being a fortnight behind ain't much. I've run as much as four weeks in the rear before now, but that's bad, and I was pretty well dune up, I can tell you." Seeing, however, that the reporter still looked rather puzzled, ho set to work to explain himself:—" Well, it's along this way. I allow myself two meals a day. Two meals a day is what a man really wants to keep in any kind of trim, and if he can get 'em reg'lar so much the pleasanter, but if he can't, why it's his duty to make 'em up when ho can. If I only get one meal on Monday tho othor stands over to Tuesday ; and if I am ono short on Tuesday again, that leaves four for Wednesday. And do I really keep a score and work off arrears Avhen I can ? Why, of course, I do, but it's hard work sometimes," ho continued, meditatively ; " with ihe scoring and eating off arrears is hard. You see one's very apt to get mixed carrying on tho count in one's memory from clay to day—aud I don't rightly know whether I ever had any Saturday fortnight's breakfast, now, but, I had a meal late at night on last Thursday which I think was Saturday fortnight's ureakfast but I never felt sure as it wasn't, only Friday fortnight's dinner. But I don't like getting mixed ; it makes one awful hungry and uncertain about one's stomach. But what's worse is getting into a new month—it don't feel so bad to be eating last week's victuals, or the week's before—but when it comes to last month's its hungry work. That's why it is," he explained, " I'm always kind o' low for the first few days of a month."

Hero ho grew very sad, as if ponderingon some harrowing memories ; then slowly —" I only once turned tho years in arrears, and that was in '79. As a general rule I managed to pick up a bit about Christinas and work off old scores before tho Ist January. But somehow or other that year money didn't seem very plenty, aud I had to begin the new year with a fortnight's meals on my mind but not in my stomach. It's a terrible thing sir." he said bitterly, " to have the new year opening when you ought to be full of hope for a fresh start, and to bo dragged hack by being 28 diuners and breakfasts in arrears! May you never know what it means, sir, and thank you iigain;" and ho turned gloomily away to buy last Tuesday week's dinner.—American Paper.