A big, burly man visited the pastor’s home

and asked to see the minister’s wife, a woman well known for her

charitable impulses.

“Madam,” he said in a broken voice, “I
wish to draw your attention
to the terrible plight of a poor family
in this district. The father is
dead, the mother is too ill to
work, and the nine children are
starving. They are about to be turned
into the cold, empty streets unless
someone pays their rent, which
amounts to $400.”

“How terrible!” exclaimed the preacher’s wife.
“May I ask who you
are?”

The sympathetic visitor applied his
handkerchief to his eyes. “I’m
the landlord,” he sobbed.