AT THE INN 147 



we had to struggle along as best we could ! " 

 Another landlady wanted a little more time to 

 size up humanity, and then she was confident. 

 " Give me two days," said she, " and I can tell 

 you all about their character, all about their 

 * little ways '." 



Queer characters turn up at hotels sometimes. 

 One, of whom I was told, remarked to the landlady 

 that she must not mind him, but he happened to be 

 a kleptomaniac. She, good soul, got it into her 

 head that this meant not being able to sleep at night, 

 and she expressed the hope that the fresh air would 

 soon make him better. Two or three days 

 afterwards the real meaning of the word flashed 

 across her, and at the same time she remembered 

 that a toast rack was missing. The visitor 

 happened to be out ; so she paid a visit to his 

 bedroom. At the bottom of a drawer was the 

 toast rack, together with a few other pieces of 

 hotel property. These she withdrew, but other- 

 wise kept her counsel, saying nothing to anybody, 

 for she is not only wise, but also a great-hearted, 

 large-souled woman. Presumably the visitor had 

 missed the articles, for when he happened to pass 

 the room where the silver was all laid out (for the 

 usual cleaning) he said just one word to the 

 landlady : " Copped ! " And that was the only 

 word that passed on the subject between him 

 and his hosts except when, in the ordinary way, 

 he was leaving, and then he remarked to the land- 

 lord, as he was saying good-bye, " And tell your 

 good wife not to worry, I've only got one spoon ! " 



