MINE HOST. 47 



manner of his own. The hotel especially was witness 

 of this ; for whenever business or pleasure called him 

 abroad, he would invariably ask the first of his guests 

 to go and take care of the bar, dispense the beverages, 

 and do what he liked with the cash-box. Such a man 

 could not be narrow-minded impossible that he could 

 be so is written plainly on the face of what I have said, 

 Still, the following playful little incident took place ; 

 and how well it proves that all men are mortal that 

 the great mind is subject to infirmities as well as the 

 lesser, that the best-balanced head may forget as well 

 as the fool ! Mr. Prefer felt thirsty ; so did one of his 

 guests. The weather was sultry, so champagne was 

 decided on as the most suitable beverage, and it was 

 resolved to toss who should incur the cost of a quart 

 bottle. Our host was without ready money : wealthy 

 men are sometimes, clever men are frequently, but 

 brilliant men are invariably impecunious. Thus Mr. 

 Prefer borrowed a sovereign to toss with : fate was 

 against him, and he lost. This struck him as worthy 

 of thought ; and his giant brain became absorbed in a 

 deep study of the inscrutable perverseness of the fickle 

 jade Fortune. However, he was recalled to the 

 existence of the outer world by the pop of the cork. 

 I have known many instances of deep and erudite 

 thinkers being called to their material state by a similar 

 means. The champagne was cool, brisk, and possessed 

 of good bouquet, and therefore went to that bourn from 

 whence little champagne returns. Suddenly, business 

 called our host away : the returning of the sovereign 

 mattered not at the time ; the visitor could get credit 

 for it in his next bill. 



A few days passed, and settlements had to be made, 



