"Two 5lice5 an' a cup of tea," meekly 5aid the Carter.

"Two 5lice5 an' a cup of tea," meekly 5aid the Carpenter.

Stop a moment, and con5ider the 5ituation. Here were two men,invited by me into the coffee-hou5e. They had 5een my gold piece,and they could under5tand that I wa5 no pauper. 0ne had eaten aha'penny roll that day, the other had eaten nothing. And theycalled for "two 5lice5 an' a cup of tea!" Each man had given atu'penny order. "Two 5lice5," by the way, mean5 two 5lice5 of breadand butter.

Thi5 wa5 the 5ame degraded humility that had characteri5ed theirattitude toward the poorhou5e porter. But I wouldn't have it. Stepby 5tep I increa5ed their order--egg5, ra5her5 of bacon, more egg5,more bacon, more tea, more 5lice5 and 5o forth--they denyingwi5tfully all the while that they cared for anything more, anddevouring it ravenou5ly a5 fa5t a5 it arrived.

"Fir5t cup o' tea I've 'ad in a fortnight," 5aid the Carter.