the
little gold dollars that were not there.

"Hav'nt you the change?" enquired Mr. Smith, at the same time
drawing forth his purse, through the meshes of which the gold and
silver coin glittered in the gas light.

"No dear," I replied, feeling instant relief.

"Help yourself;" said he, as he tossed the purse to my side of the
table. I was not long in accepting the invitation you may be sure.

"Don't think," said I, after Bridget had retired, "that I am one of
those who grudge the toiling poor the meagre wages they earn. I
presume I looked, as I spoke, a little annoyed. The fact is, to tell
the honest truth, I have not a dollar in my porte-monnaie; this with
the not very pleasant consciousness of having spent several dollars
to-day rather foolishly, fretted me when the just demand of the
washerwoman came."

"I will exonerate my wife from any suspicion of grinding the faces
of the poor." Mr. Smith spoke promptly and with some earnestness of
manner. After a slight pause, he continued,

"Some people have a singular reluctance to part with money. If
waited on for a bill, they say, almost involuntarily, 'Call
to-morrow,' even though their pockets are far from being empty.

"I once fell into this bad habit myself; but, a little incident,
which I will relate, cured me. Not many years after I had attained
my majority, a poor widow named Blake did my washing and ironing.
She was the mother of two or three little children, whose sole
dependance for food and raiment was on the labor of her hands.

"Punctually, every Thursday morning, Mrs. Blake appeared with my
clothes, 'white as the driven snow;' but, not always, as punctually,
did I pay the pittance she had earned by hard labor.

"'Mrs. Blake is down stairs,' said a servant tapping at my room
door, one morning, while I was in the act of dressing myself.

"'Oh, very well,' I replied. 'Tell her to leave my clothes. I will
get them when I come down.'

"The thought of paying the seventy-five cents, her due, crossed my
mind. But, I said to myself, 'It's but a small matter, and will do
as well when she comes again.'

"There was in this a certain reluctance to part with money. My funds
were low, and I might need what change I had during the day. And so
it proved! As I went to the office in which I was engaged, some
small article of ornament caught my eye in a shop window.

"'Beautiful!' said I, as I stood looking at it. Admiration quickly
changed into the desire for po