92 A Walk from 



feel shabby to go away without dropping a few pennies 

 into the hands of eager expectants who almost claimed 

 the gratuity as a right. The worst stage of the system 

 was when the expected gift was measured by your sup- 

 posed position and ability, or when the waiter or the 

 chambermaid, nattering you with what Falstaff would 

 call an instinctive perception of your dignity, would 

 say with an asking and hopeful smile, " What you 

 please, Sir." Now, that was not the question with 

 you at all. You wanted to know how much each 

 expected, or how much you must give to acquit your- 

 self of the charge of being " a screw," when they put 

 their heads and gains together in conference and com- 

 parison after you were gone. So, on the whole, it was 

 a great relief when all these awkward uncertainties of 

 expectation were cleared up and rectified in the system 

 now usually adopted. 



Whether you be rich or poor, or whatever position or 

 pretention be attributed to you, the fees of the universal 

 triumvirate are put down specifically in black and white 

 among the other charges on your bill. As I hope these 

 notes may convey some useful information to Americans 

 who may be about to visit England for the first time, it 

 may be of some use to them to state what is the usual rule 

 in this matter at the middle-class hotels in this country; 

 for with those of the first rank I never have made nor 



