Page:Life of Isaiah V Williamson.djvu/175

Rh again, he established a friendship with the driver and engaged him to take him on short drives in the evening on his own account. The fare would be twenty-five or fifty cents, according to the time out; but Isaiah Williamson invariably gave the driver a dollar, on the first occasion explaining his act in such words as these:

"You have earned what you charged me, and I have no right to dictate to you what you shall do with your earnings. But what I give you over your earnings I have earned, and have a right to speak about. I don't want you to waste it, but take it home to your wife and put it to good use."

The driver has said that this lesson in thrift and saving taught him by the eccentric hotel guest proved of great help to him in later years. And it is fair to presume that this was only one of many similar instances of personal influence which never came to light. How many lives he stimulated in his quiet way we have no means of knowing.

Speaking of his private carriage, it is true that in the latter part of his life, until he became too feeble, he was a confirmed