MY TRAMP. 



367 



their lodgings and two more or less square meals, and then 

 complain*' of their victuals and the quality of tobacco handed 

 out to them ; these lusty beggars who terrify our households 

 and turn up their noses at the best cuts of mince pie. I was 

 melted by the pitiful tale of this poor nobleman, who, far away 

 from his suffering family, was endeavoring to raise funds for 

 their relief. I forgave him the odor of gin which tinctured 

 his breath, knowing he had imbibed that stimulant merely to 

 drown trouble. So that when I handed him back his state- 

 ment with a present of ten cents, which he insisted I should 

 mark down on his brief that he might properly account for 

 the funds collected, I could not resist his request to partake of 

 my hospitality for the night. Acting on the impulse of the 

 moment, I took my tramp to the house and seated him in the 

 kitchen, much to the annoyance of Mrs. Smith and the disgust 

 of Bridget, our maid of all work, and then went back to the 

 task I was at when my foreign friend interrupted me. It was 

 now nearing night, and going to the house to supper I found 

 the household in somewhat of an uproar. When I introduced 

 my tramp, in answer to my wife's inquiry as to ways and 

 means for' lodging him, I had jocularly remarked that he 

 might be put in the girl's room. This my oldest, who had 

 just arrived at the " irrepressible small boy " age, had carried 

 to Bridget's ears, with such additions as the case seemed to 

 demand, when that jewel, red-faced and irate, gave warnnig 

 on the spot, in spite of all promises of increased wages and a 

 nearlv new silk dress. The innocent cause of this disturbance 

 was quietly seated by the kitchen stove, placidly filling the 

 apartment with smoke, and unmindful of the bangnig and 

 knocking around of pots and kettles by the angry servmg- 

 maid. He had conversed but little, merely inqun-ing from 

 time to time of the progress of the evening meal. When that 

 was ready, he showed some feeling when he saw preparations 

 were making for his eating alone in the kitchen ; mildly re- 



