An eminent doctor successfully attended a sick child. A few days later,
the grateful mother called on the physician. After expressing her
realization of the fact that his services had been of a sort that could
not be fully paid for, she continued:
"But I hope you will accept as a token from me this purse which I myself
have embroidered."
The physician replied very coldly to the effect that the fees of the
physician must be paid in money, not merely in gratitude, and he added:
"Presents maintain friendship: they do not maintain a family."
"What is your fee?" the woman inquired.
"Two hundred dollars," was the answer.
The woman opened the purse, and took from it five $100 bills. She put
back three, handed two to the discomfited physician, then took her
departure.