Barry Pain (1864-1928) — was a British journalist, poet and writer. Barry Pain got education at Cambridge and soon started his literary career in 'Granta' journal and eventually became one of its most significant authors. Barry Pain gained recognition as a satirist as well as a horror writer. 'The Pleasant Surprise' is a short story by Barry Pain that at first sight seems dealing with simple day-to-day things, but if you take a deeper look at it you will find a symbolic meaning in it. The story goes around the four pounds and the ways they can be spent.