The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

FRANK
A STORY WITH A MORAL. 239
CHAPTER XVII.
A STUDY OF JAPANESE ART.
thought it was pretty iietirly time to 1)6 thinlving about tlie
purchases he was to make for Mary. So he looked up the jjaper slie
gave him before his departure, and sat down to examine it. The hst was
not by any means a short one, and on consuUing with tlie Doctor he
learned that it would make a heavy inroad upon his stock of cash if he
bought everythiug that was mentioned. He was rather disconcerted at
the situation, but the good Doctor came to his relief.
" It is nothing unusual," said he, " for persons going abroad to be
loaded down with commissions that they are unable to execute. A great
many people, with the best intentions in the world, ask their friends who
are going to Europe to bring back a C|uantity of things, without stopping
to think that the purchase of those things will involve a heavj' outlay that
cannot be easily borne by the traveller. The majority of people who go
abroad have only a certain amount of money to expend on tlicir journeys,
f\nd they cannot afford to lock up a considerable part of that money in
purchases that will only be paid for on their return, or quite as often are
never paid for at all. There is a good little story on this subject, and it
may be of use to you to hear it.
"A gentleman was once leaving New York for a trip to Europe, and
many of his friends gave him commissions to execute ftir them. Some
were thoughtful enough to give him the money for the articles they
wanted ; but the majority only said, ' I'll pay you when yon get back, and
I know how much it comes to.' "When he returned, he told them that a
singular circumstance had happened in regard to tlie commissions. 'The
day after I sailed,' said he, ' I was in my room arranging the lists of things
I was to get for my friends, and I placed the papers in two piles ; those
that had the money with them I pat in one pile, and the money on top;
and those that had no money with them I put in another pile. The wind
came in and set things flying all around the room. The papers that had
the money on them were held down by it, but those that had no money to