“My argument,” said the beggar, “is based upon the word ‘savings’. War Savings Stamps. I propose that you shall start modestly with one of these stamps, purchased out of what you save on current expenses without giving up anything that you need or want or aren’t better off without.”
“That,” commented E. Van Tenner, smiling, “suggests magic.”
“Magic, pure, deep and white,” confirmed the beggar promptly. “What are your plans for to-day?”
“A trip on business to New York.”
“Good! How long?”
“Twenty-four hours,” said the precise E. Van Tenner.
“Do you carry a pocketbook—or your money loose?”
“Loose.”
“Take this purse. It calls for but one condition: That you keep all your money—bills and change—in it and spend only from it. If this is faithfully done, within twenty-four hours you will have saved enough to buy one—no, two stamps; which at the present price will come to eight dollars and twenty-eight cents.”
To Van Tenner’s skeptical eye the purse placed in his hand seemed an ordinary-enough affair—a cheap, flattish wallet, without distinguishing mark until he opened it and found, set into the flap, a celluloid tablet flanked by a small pencil. Across the top of the tablet ran the legend “What’s the good?”