Two hobos were walking along a stretch of tracks. One was old and seasoned, the other new to his trade. The younger hobo complained of hunger. The seasoned hobo stopped him and told him this: "I'll show you how to get a meal. I'll go to that first house over there. You just watch what I do and then do the same thing at the second house." The young hobo hid in the bushes as the older one approached the first house. On his way, he stooped and picked a dead cat from the tracks. He knocked on the door, and when a young house wife appeared, he said this: "Madam, pardon the intrusion. I have been on the road for days, and I'm starving. Could you possibly give me two slices of white bread so that I can make myself a sandwich?" He held up the dead cat. The young woman was astonished. "Now, you just throw that old nasty thing back down. You come right in, and I'll fix you a good hot meal." When the old hobo disappeared into the woman's house, the second hobo ran up and fetched the dead cat. At the second house, he knocked on the door. A large, disgruntled iron worker answered. The hobo looked up and gulped. "Pardon me sir," he stuttered, "could I get some bread for a sandwich?" He held up the cat. The iron worker turned in the door and called to his wife, "Hey, Mabel! Bring me the bread." "Why?" she demanded to know. The iron worker turned back to the hobo with a grin. "I'm gonna watch this loafer eat a cat."
