“A what?”
“A six-penny bit—to pay for some stamps. Shortly afterwards he retired for the night to a room in an upper story; the door had both lock and bolt; the window looked on to a balcony. The chambermaid told him that the window was open, but said nothing about the door. He closed the latter, but did not lock it or bolt it; left the window open, and placed his clothes, with the money in a pocket, on a chair at his bedside. During the night some one entered by the door and removed the bag without first removing the money from it. Of course Oppenheim sued the hotel company, and had the pleasure of hearing the judge tell the jury that they should consider whether the loss would or would not have happened if O. had used the ordinary care which a prudent man might reasonably be expected to have used under the circumstances.”
“And the jury said what?”
“Why, they said the hotel company were not liable; and the Court of Common Pleas, at Westminister, said that the judge had put the law correctly, and that the jury had done their duty.”
“But then the guest had been guilty of other acts of negligence besides leaving his door unlocked; he showed his purse—”
“Et tu Brute!” I remarked.
“I forgot,” was the confession.
“The whole facts of the case must be looked at; and the judges thought there was evidence of negligence on Oppenheim’s part which contributed to the loss. One of my Lords said that he agreed in the opinion that there is no obligation on a guest at an inn to lock his bedroom door; but the fact of the guest having the means of securing himself and choosing not to use them is one which, with the other circumstances of the case, should be left to the jury. The weight of it must, of course, depend upon the state of society at the time and place; what would be prudent at a small hotel in a small town might be the extreme of imprudence at a large hotel in a city like Bristol, where probably three hundred bedrooms were occupied by people of all sorts.[299] And one of the other judges remarked that Lord Coke, in the case to which I first referred,[300] only meant that an hotel-keeper could not get rid of his liability by merely handing his guest a key, and that he by no means laid it down that a guest might not be guilty of negligence in abstaining from using it.”[301]
“Well, what am I to do?”
“Do! Why let the past bury the past, and in future remember three golden rules whenever you are at an hotel. First, under any circumstances lock your bedroom door when you retire for the night. Secondly, do not display your cash in public places; and, Thirdly, consider whether there are not special circumstances calling for special caution on your part, and if there are, act accordingly. But you have not told me yet how much you lost.”