The Eeturn 



example a gift of a florin towards a charitable 

 object sounds very much better when it is 

 described as " five hundred," and the man who 

 has won a couple of sovereigns at the Casino 

 may gain a fictitious eclat as the winner of 

 " ten thousand." But it may cause misappre- 

 hension among strangers. Readers of Mark 

 Twain will recall that certain of the " Innocents 

 Abroad" dined at an hotel at Fayal at the 

 Azores, and that when the landlord brought his 

 bill the giver of the feast exclaimed, " Twenty- 

 one thousand seven hundred reis ! The suffer- 

 ing Moses ! — there ain't money enough in the 

 ship to pay that bill 1 Go — leave me to my 

 misery, boys ; I am a ruined community." 

 Then the shadow of a desperate resolve settled 

 upon his countenance and he rose up and said, 

 " Landlord, this is a low, mean swindle, and I'll 

 never, never stand it. Here's a hundred and 

 fifty dollars, sir, and it's all you'll get — I'll 

 swim in blood, before I'll pay a cent more." 

 On the discovery that the bill was for a fraction 

 over twenty-one dollars, happiness reigned 

 again — and more refreshments were ordered. 

 At par the pound sterling is considered to be 

 worth 4500 reis. Up to about twenty years 



