A dying man gathered his Lawyer, Doctor and Clergyman at his bed
side and handed each of them an envelop 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 Clergyman’s 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 felonious 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.”