Page:They're a multitoode (1900).djvu/29

"No matter," he said, "in the Lord's account
  That guinea of gold is set down to me,
They lend to Him who give to the poor;
  It will not so bad an investment be."

"Na, na, mon," the chuckling sexton cried out;
  "The Lord is no cheated—He kens thee well;
He knew it was only by accident
  That out of thy fingers the guinea fell.

"He keeps an account, no doubt, for the puir;
  But in that account He'll set down to thee
Na mair o' that golden guinea, my mon,
  Than the one bare penny ye meant to gi'e!"

There's a comfort, too, in the little tale—
  A serious side as well as a joke;
A comfort for all the generous poor
  In the honest words the sexton spoke.

A comfort to think that the good Lord knows
  How generous we really desire to be,
And will give us credit in His account
  For all the pennies we long to "gi'e."