Read "The Guardian Angel" by W.W. Jacobs online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The night-watchman shook his head. "I never met any of these phil -- / philantherpists, as you call 'em," he said, decidedly. "If I 'ad they / wouldn't 'ave got away from me in a hurry, I can tell you. I don't say I / don't believe in 'em; I only say I never met any of 'em. If people do / you a kindness it's generally because they want to get something out of / you; same as a man once -- a perfick stranger -- wot stood me eight / 'arf-pints becos I reminded 'im of his dead brother, and then borrered / five bob off of me.
"O' course, there must be some kind-'arted people in the world -- all men / who get married must 'ave a soft spot somewhere, if it's only in the / 'ead -- but they don't often give things away. Kind-'artedness is often / only another name for artfulness, same as Sam Small's kindness to Ginger / Dick and Peter Russet.