Peck's Compendium of Fun: Comprising the Choicest Gems of Wit, Humor, Sarcasm and Pathos of America's Favorite HumoristPeck, George W. (George Wilbur)
General
Peck's Compendium of Fun: Comprising the Choicest Gems of Wit, Humor, Sarcasm and Pathos of America's Favorite Humorist
Peck, George W. (George Wilbur)
American wit and humor
No person ever wants to tell us again how to save two shillings. When we
started for Chippewa Falls, to attend the celebration, we only had a few
hundred dollars along, and we felt like saving all that was possible. Just
before arriving at Sparta, where we were to take supper, Dan McDonald got
to telling about how to save twenty-five cents on meals at these eating
houses, when traveling. He said that all you had to do when you come out
from supper was to look like a bummer, or "traveling man," hand the
door-keeper fifty cents and wink twice with the left eye, and he would
pass you right out, as though you had paid seventy-five cents. If you
handed out a dollar bill, and he only gave you back twenty-five cents, you
only had to hold out your hand and wink a couple of times, and the man
would give you the other quarter. Dan said he always did that way, and he
had saved hundreds of dollars. He said these bummers only paid fifty cents
a meal, and there was no use of anybody else paying more, if they had
cheek enough to play it on the landlord.
[Illustration: "OH, THAT WILL BE ALL RIGHT!"]
We never had anything strike us any more reasonable than the statement of
Mr. McDonald, and we determined to try it. To a man who was traveling a
good deal lecturing, a saving of twenty-five cents a meal was worth
looking into, and we made up our mind to begin to economize that very
night. The train stopped and we walked across the platform as near like a
bummer as possible. With our hat on one side, we threw a cigar stub into
the parlor window, said "Hello, old tapeworm," to the landlord in a
familiar sort of way, chucked our hat into a chair; rushed into the
dining-room, took a seat at the head of the table, and told a girl to cart
out all she had got. The landlord looked at us as though he thought we
were one of Field, Leiter & Co.'s bummers, his good wife looked
frightened, as though she feared we would kick a leg off the table and
spill things. However, there is no use of describing the meal, and how we
went through brook trout and strawberry shortcake, and things. We couldn't
help feeling sorry for the man that was destined to furnish all that for
fifty cents. Finally we went out. We felt a sort of palpitation of the
heart when we approached the hungry-looking man at the door, taking the
money. He looked as though he was a sick orphan trying to save money
enough to get to a water cure. Picking our teeth with our finger, like a
Chicago bummer, and pulling our handkerchief out of our pistol pocket and
blowing our nose like a thirty-two pounder, just as we had heard a Chicago
fellow do, we handed the man fifty cents, winked a couple of times and
started to go by. The tobacco sign standing there said, "twenty-five cents
more, please." We looked at him, winked, and said, "O, that will be all
right." "Two shillings more, my friend," said the summer resort. We winked
some more, and punched him in the ribs with our thumb, and said, "O, now,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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