INVOLUNTARY CHARITY.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1125, 14 December 1883, Page 2

INVOLUNTARY CHARITY.

» iEgles” in the Australasian says “ The landlord of one of the best hotels in a. country township lately engaged a bewitching but unsophisticated housemaid. It was part of her duty to take charge of the bar each morning, this being the time when the local civil servants called to obtain the stimulants necessary to brace them up for the day’s exertions. Strange to say, after the ad vent of the fair Lucy, the daily receipts of the bar fell off seriousty, and suspicion began to haunt the landlord’s mind. Just as she was leaving her post one morning ho entered : the : bar, pulled but .the drawer, and found nothing in the till, although the callers that day had been exceptionally numerous. Pointing to the empty space, he slowly said : ‘ Look at the till; how do you account for this?’ She instantly exclaimed : * Oh, sir, this is not the the till I used ; this is the one,’ pointing to the contribution box of the local hospital which stood on the counter'! The landlord was dismayed. The Hospital Committee held the key of that receptacle into which had gone his receipts for a fortnight. But rather than appjr to the Committee for a refund, and raise a laugh against himself, he resolved to pocket the loss, and perform an involuntary act of charity, without even getting credit for his generosity.