One night a hotel caught fire and the people who were staying in it ran out in their night clothes.

Two men were standing near the hotel and looking at the fire. «Before I came out,» said one of them, «I ran into some of the rooms and found a lot of money there. People don’t think about money when they are in panic. When paper money gets into a fire, the fire burns it. So I took all the paper money that I could find. No one will be poorer because I took it.»

«You don’t know me,» said the other man, «and you don’t know what I am.»

«And where do you work?»

«I’m a policeman.»

«Oh!» cried the first man. He thought quickly and then he said, «And do you know what I am?»

«No,» said the policeman.

«I’m a writer. I’m always telling stories about things that never took place.»