Page:The rising son, or, The antecedents and advancement of the colored race (IA risingsonthe00browrich).pdf/28

 "'Make out your bill, madam,' I replied, 'and put the price of the wet sheets in it, and I will send it to the Times, and let the public know how much you charge for wet sheets.'

"I turned upon my heel, and went back to the sitting-room. A moment more, and my bill was brought in; but nothing said about the sheets, and no charge made for them. The coach came to the door; and as I passed through the hall leaving the house, the landlady met me, but with a different smile.

"'I hope, sir,' said she, 'that you will never mention the little incident about the sheets. I am very sorry for it. It would ruin my house if it were known.' Thinking that she was punished enough in the loss of her property, I promised not to mention the name of the house, if I ever did the incident.

"The following week I returned to the hotel, when I learned the fact from the waiter that they had suspected that I had stolen the sheets, and that a police officer was concealed behind the hall door, on the day that I was talking with the landlady. When I retired to bed that night, I found two jugs of hot water in the bed, and the sheets thoroughly dried and aired.

"I visited the same hotel several times afterwards, and was invariably treated with the greatest deference, which no doubt was the result of my night with the wet sheets."

In 1852, Mr. Brown gave to the public his "Three