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164 pocket in presence of distress of any kind. It had been suggested to him that this generosity, without inquiry, to whomsoever beseeched, did a great deal of harm, pauperising the unfit, and it was further intimated to him, with some diffidence, it is true, because his subscription was a lavish one, that it would be better to increase this sum, and refer all beggars to the Society when they solicited aid. Lord Stranleigh fell in with the proposal, and doubled his benefaction, but the Society learned with regret that his retail almsgiving, as it might be called, went on as before. He never thought of investigation, or of referring a tattered wretch to the Charity Organisation Society while there was one coin to jingle against another in his pocket.

Step by step the unknown had followed him from the club towards his own house, and as several times they passed through dark, secluded portions of the West End, where there was an excellent opportunity of accosting, with no policeman in sight, Stranleigh reasoned from this that the man was new at the game, and diffident, so he resolved to increase his contribution to five shillings. When he crossed Piccadilly, at this hour deserted of its omnibuses, strangely silent save for the clip-clip footfalls of horses in the hurrying hansom cabs, or the purr of an electromobile, and still no word from the follower, sympathy for his reluctance rose, and he determined to give a golden sovereign. Then,