Page:Storys of the three beggars (1).pdf/7

 till at length such an uproar and confusion ensued, that the landlord, after giving each of them a box on the ear, called his servant to come down with two good sticks.

The ecclesiastic all this while kept laughing in his hiding-place till he was ready to fall into convulsions. But when he found the affair was becoming serious, and heard them talk of sticks, he came forward, and, with an air of surprise, asked the cause of the quarrel. “Sir, here are three knaves who came yesterday to consume my provisions ; and now I ask them for my due, they have the insolence to mock me. But, by all that’s sacred, they shall not get off in that manner, and before they go out ---”

Softly, softly, master Nicholas,” said the churchman, “these poor men have not wherewithal to pay you; and, in that case, they deserve rather your pity than your resentment. How much does their bill amount to ?”

“ Ten-pence.”

“What! is it for so paltry a sum that you raise all this disturbance ? Come, make yourselves easy; I will take it upon myself. And, for my part, what am I to pay you?”

“ Five-pence, Sir.”

That’s enough. I shall pay you fifteenpence ; now let these unfortunate men go;