$25,000 Each

A dying man gathered his Lawyer, Doctor and Clergyman at his bed side and
handed each of them an envelope containing $25,000 in cash. He made them each
promise that after his death and during his repose, they would place the three
envelops in his coffin. He told them that he wanted to have enough money to
enjoy the next life. A week later the man died. At the Wake, the Lawyer and
Doctor and Clergyman, each concealed an envelop in the coffin and bid their old
client and friend farewell.
By chance, these three met several months later. Soon the Clergyman, feeling
guilty, blurted out a confession saying that there was only $10,000 in the
envelop he placed in the coffin. He felt, rather than waste all the money, he
would send it to a Mission in South America. He asked for their forgiveness. The
Doctor, moved by the gentle Clergymans sincerity, confessed that he too had kept
some of the money for a worthy medical charity. The envelop, he admitted, had
only $8000 in it. He said, he too could not bring himself to waste the money so
frivolously when it could be used to benefit others. By this time the Lawyer was
seething with self-righteous outrage. He expressed his deep disappointment in
the lonious behavior of two of his oldest and most trusted friends. I am the
only one who kept his promise to our dying friend. I want you both to know that
the envelop I placed in the coffin contained the full amount. Indeed, my
envelope contained my personal check for
the entire $25,000.