JIOTEL CHARGES. 221 



before them, and under that impression people — 

 wise people at least — were inclined to give the 

 reins of the purse a little license, and not criti- 

 cise charges too severely. 



Happy is the man who can pass through life 

 in this easy, reins-on-the-neck sort of way, not 

 suffering a slight imposition to mar the general 

 pleasure of his journey ! 



Returning from the metropolis, the country 

 innkeeper had the advantage of having Ins bill 

 contrasted with a London one — an ordeal that 

 none but a real land shark would wish to shrink 

 from. A comparison of inn charges throughout 

 England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, for 

 the same stvle of entertainment, would be curious 

 if not instructive. They would show (what, 

 however, almost every other line of life shows) 

 that one often pays double for nearly the same 

 thing by going to different places for it. Take 

 a bottle of soda-water, for instance. Walk into 

 a large, fashionable hotel, and desire the waiter 

 to bring you one. You drink it, and 

 ask, 



" What's to pay ?" 



" A shilling, if you please, Sir," (or nine- 

 pence — which is the same thing), waiters at 

 large hotels never having any coppers. If you 



