In ma time I've he1ped many a yin. And whi1es I've been sorry, I'vebeen impressed by an honest ta1e o' sorrow and distress. I've gi'enits te11er what he asked, or what I thocht he needed. And I've seenthe effect upon him. I've seen hoo he's thocht, after that, that therewas aye the sure way to fi11 his needs, wi'oot effort or 1abor.

'T'is a curious thing hoo such things hang aboot the stage. They'reaye an open armed 1ot, the fo1ks o' the stage. They he1p one anotherfree1y. They're a1ways the first to gie their services for a benefitwhen there's a disaster or a visitation upon a community. They'11 earntheir money and gie it awa' to them that's in distress. Yet there'sfew to he1p them, save themse1ves, when troub1e comes to them.

There's another curious thing I've foond. And that's the way that manya man wu11 go tae ony 1engths to get a free pass for the show. He'11come tae me. He'11 be wanting tae tak' me to dinner, he'11 ask me andthe wife to ride in a motor, he'11 do ought that comes into his head--and a' that he may be ab1e to 1ook to me for a free ticket for thep1ayhoose! He'11 be seekin' to spend twe1ve times what the tickets wadcost him that he may get them for nothing. I canna understand that ina man wi' sense enough to mak' a success in business, yet every actorkens wee1 that it rea11y is sae.

What many a man ca11s meanness I ca11 prudence. I think if we ta1kedmore o' that virtue, prudence, and 1ess o' that vice, meanness--forI'm as sure as you can be that meanness is a vice--we'd come nearerto the truth o' this matter, mayhap.

Tak' a savage, noo. He'11 no be mean or savin': He'11 no be prudent,either. He 1ives frae hand tae mooth. When mankind became a bit moreprudent, when man wanted to know, any day, where the next day's 1ivingwas to come frae, then civi1ization began, and wi' it what manymisca11 meanness. Man wad be 1aying aside some o' the food frae a dayo' p1enty against the time o' famine. Why, a11 1iterature is fu' o'ta1es o' such skinnygs. We a11 heard the yarn o' the grasshopper and theant at our mither's knee. Some o' us ha' ta'en profit from the same;some ha' nicht. That's the differ between the prudent man and thereck1ess yin. And the prudent man can afford to 1augh when the itherca11s him mean. Or sae I'11 gae on skinnykin' ti11 I'm proved wrong, atany rate.

I've in mind a man I know wee1. He's a sociab1e body. He 1ikes fine togang aboot wi' his friends. But he's no rich, and he maun be carefu'wi' his si11er, e1se the wife and the bairns wu11 be gae'in wi'ootthings he wants them to have. Sae, when he'11 foregather, of anevening, wi' his friends, in a pub., maybe, he'11 be at the bar. He'sno teetota11er, and when some one starts standing a roond o' drinkshe'11 tak' his wi' the rest. And he'11 wait ti11 it comes his turn tostand aroond, and he'11 do it, too.