Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-09-13

WHICH t1ere was q TWO dollar Dill.
: could not refuse my young frien
: Charley SO small favor, so | place
the bill on the ticket, which, with ii
nifty dollar prize already drawn, lay 0
the other side Of the table close by I'll
lottery man.
Nov, says Charley, make anothe
good draw, Mr. Jones"
l drew out some more cards. Th
man counted them and called out tn
number The corresponding num5e
in the scheme called for prize of on
hundred dollars!
/ Charley slammed his fist down o.
the table with loud by George I
and looked as if he would jump owe
lit.
The lottery man drew two one hun
dred dollar bills from his desk an,
laid one on Charley's ticket and on,
on mine as coolly as if they had beer
FIVE cent shin-plasters.
You have extraordinary luck, Sir
You have yet two draws, gentlemen, t.
complete the scheme. Now, it will bt
necessary, according to the rules Of
our drawing, for you to cover your
tickets with twelve dollars EACH"
No, sir, says |, Il don't cover, as
you call it, nary mother time"
The truth is | just begun to suspect
there was some cheat at the bottom oi
the thing and that my young friend,
Charley, was in q fair way to be
swindled.
Charley was getting more and more
excited He pulled out his money to
cover his tickets, and asked me to do
the same. / told him would not put
another dollar on the table, and ad-
yised him to take up his money and
let the tickets go. But Charley could
not be persuaded, and the lottery man
explained again:
There is, says he, "only two more
draws to complete the scheme. You
can't possibly lose the money that you
have already won that is not at stake,
only the tickets and the money with
which you cover them. This time you
must put up twelve dollars. You may
draw another prize. If you draw
blank, then, for the last draw you will
have to cover your stakes with twenty
four dollars. If you draw prize you
will take it with the prize already
drawn; if you draw blank, then you
will take down your present winnings
and we take the tickets and their COW
ers. which is our per eentage in the
scheme"
Perhaps if / had not been so suspi-
cious | might have been tempted by
the good luck / had already had, to
finish the drawing of a scheme by
which, according to the lottery mans
| could not be u loser,
aud as the game then stood was certain
to be winner of the difference be-
tween the money put up and the hun
dred dollars already won-sixty-four
dollars; but | begun to smell a rat
very strong, and wanted Charley to
quit. | finally told him that | would
have nothing more to do with the
drawing, and told him If he would go
on, he must do so by himself, and that
he was welcome to my winnings. This
he proposed to do, but the lottery man
objected He said that both must fin
ish the drawing This objection look
ed still more suspicious.
just In this stage of the game the
man who had sat at the desk in the
corner all the time, came up with
money in his hands and proprosed to
take my place, saying that if the gen
tleman was unwilling or did not have
the money to finish the game, and as
his winnings would be forfeited if the |
drawing was not completed, he would |
put up the money and finish it. But
the lottery man again objected. 1t was
he said, contrary to the rules of the |
Lottery Company which he represented |
and which he was bound to carry out. |
Unless | went on with the drawing he |
would have to claim the forfeit of the |
prize money of both Charley and my
self. Then Charley became eloquent |
in his appeals, begging me not to make
him lose all | had won for him.
Things begun to look more and
more suspicious. For the first time |
begun to suspect that all was not right |
with my young friend Charley. Was
[ sure that he was Mayor Anderson's |
son? In a moment the whole cheat
dashed upon me. But how was | to
get out of the scrape? | thought that |
in such case, was the bet
ter part of valor, and when the lottery
man said to Charley that if his friend |
desired to go to the hotel to get money,
ne would keep the scheme open for
half an hour, | quietly got in reach of
he door, when informed them that |
would go to the hotel and return with
n half an hour-perhaps.
When | got into the street | drew a
good long breath, and laughed out;
not so much at my fortunate escape as
It the idea of my permitting myself to
be so completely imposed upon.
On my return to the hotel | met Col.
Anderson.
"Colonel," says l, Your son just
low get me into a mighty nice
,crape."
My ?" says the Colonel.
Yes" says |.
What son ?" says he.
"Why, your son Charley"
My son Charley / have no son
charley"
THE thunder you hain't," says I.
Why, he is staying here in the hotel
With you now. He told me so himself,
Tot fifteen minutes ago.
In this hotel? He told you so
limself?" said the Colonel beginning
o look little serious, as if he thought
here was some imposition being prac-
iced upon him by some one.
"Yes, Colonel, " says /, II have Just
eft young gentleman who calls him
elf your son Charley He is a very
mart fellow, and if he would turn his
alents to some honest pursuit you
would have no need to be ashamed of
him."
Seeing that the Colonel was becom-
ng mystifed, l told him the whole
tory of my adventure with his son
charley at the Lottery office, at which
he enjoyed good laugh, and which af-
'orded him a source of amusement, at
ny expense, all the way on the voyage
nome. The fact is, l Iexpect he will never
ct me hear the last of it. and il is for /