out of your pocket, slap it in to the woe-er's palm, grip his hand,
dash away a tear, and exit; you don't even leave yourself a 'bus fare
home. You walk back quickly and get another purse.

Middle-class people and others on the stage who are short of purses
have to content themselves with throwing about rolls of bank-notes and
tipping servants with five-pound checks. Very stingy people on the
stage have been known to be so cussed mean as to give away mere
sovereigns.

But they are generally only villains or lords that descend to this
sort of thing. Respectable stage folk never offer anything less than
a purse.

The recipient is very grateful on receiving the purse (he never looks
inside) and thinks that Heaven ought to reward the donor. They get a
lot of work out of Heaven on the stage. Heaven does all the odd jobs
for them that they don't want to go to the trouble and expense of
doing for themselves. Heaven's chief duty on the stage is to see to
the repayment of all those sums of money that are given or lent to the
good people. It is generally requested to do this to the tune of a
"thousand-fold"--an exorbitant rate when you come to think of it.

Heaven is also expected to take care that the villain gets properly
cursed, and to fill up its spare time by bringing misfortune upon the
local landlord. It has to avenge everybody and to help all the good
people whenever they are in trouble. And they keep it going in this
direction.

And when the hero leaves for prison Heaven has to take care of his