"But,
there are so many calls for charity, that we are naturally enough
led to hold on pretty tightly to our purse strings. Poor woman! I
feel sorry for her. How much do you want?"
"I am trying to get ten persons, including myself, to give a dollar
each."
"Well, here's my dollar." And Tompkins forced a smile to his face as
he handed over his contribution--but the smile did not conceal an
expression which said very plainly--
"I hope you will not trouble me again in this way."
"You may be sure I will not," muttered Lyon, as he went away. He
fully understood the meaning of the expression.
Only one more application did the kind-hearted man make. It was
successful; but, there was something in the manner of the individual
who gave his dollar, that Lyon felt as a rebuke.
"And so poor Mrs. Arnold did not get the whole of her arrears of
rent paid off," says some one who has felt an interest in her favor.
Oh, yes she did. Mr. Lyon begged five dollars, and added five more
from his own slender purse. But, he cannot be induced again to
undertake the thankless office of seeking relief from the benevolent
for a fellow creature in need.
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