Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-10-28

| Hannah, as she took the scheme "Here
are many thousand tickets to be Sold"
The babe tried hard to snatch the paper,
and Hannah held it aside.
| I" think shall run the risk" resumed
James, glanclng once more over the
paper, and resting with nervous long
| ing upon the figures which represented
the higher prizes. "There's Barney; he
| drew about $500 year ago.
"1es, know it," said Hannah with more
warmth than she had before manifested,
land what has become of the money ?
You know he has squandered it all away.
All, James, money is of no use unless we
come honestly by it,"
Honestly" repeated the young man.
"Surely there is nothing dishonest in
drawing prize in a lottery"
II think there is" kindly, but en-
phatically, replied his wife ''All games
of hazard, where money is at stake, are
dishonest. Were you to draw prize of
twenty thousand dollars you would rob
a thousand men Of twenty dollars each; or
at least you would take from them money
for which you returned them no equiva-
lent. Is it not gambling in every sense of
the word ~
ooh, no! You look upon the matter in
90 strong light"
Perhaps | do; but yet so 1t looks to
me. What you may draw, some one
else must lose; and perhaps it may be
some one who can afford the loss no bet
ter than you can. | wouldn't buy the
ticket, James. Let us live on the prod
ucts of honest gains and we shall be hap
pier"
James Lanning was uneasy. He had
no answer for his wife's arguments; at
least no answer that could spring from his
moral convictions, and he let the matter
drop But the young man could not drive
the siren from his heart. All the next
day his head was full of "prizes," and
while he was at his work he kept mutter-
ing to himself, Twenty thousand dollars"
Ten thousand dollars, Five thousand
dollars" and so on.
When he went lone the next night he
was almost unhappy with the nervous
anxiety into which he had thrown him
self. The tempter had grasped him firm
ly, and whenever he thought of the lot
terry he saw nothing but piles of gold and
silver. In short James tanning had
made up his mind that he would buy the
ticket. He went to the little box where he
had already 800 laid up toward paying
off the mortgage from his house. The
lock clicked with startling sound, and
when he threw back the cover he hesitat-
ed. He looked at his wife, and he saw
that she was sad.
ooh, I'm sure shall draw a prizen'
he said, with faint fading smile.
He took four halfeagles from the box
and put them in his pocket. His wife said
nothing. She played with her baby to
hide her sadness, for she did not wish to
say more on the subject. She had seen
that little pile Of gold gradually accumu-
lating, and both she and her husband had
been happy in anticipating the day when
the pretty cottage would be all their own.
But when she saw those four pieces of
gold taken away from the store she felt a
foreshadowing of evil. She might have
spoken against the movement, but she saw
that her husband was sorely tender ON the
subject, and she let the affair 60 to the
hands of fate.
A week elapsed from the time that
James bought his ticket to the drawing of
the lottery, and during that time the
young man had not moment of real en-
joyment He was alternating between
hope and fear, and therefore his mind was
constantly on the stretch.
At length the day arrived James went
to the Office and found that the drawing
had taken place and that the list of prizes
had been made out. He seized the list
and turned away so that those who stood
around should not see his face. He read
the list through, but he searched for his
number in vain. 1t was not there. He
had drawn blank! He left the office an
unhappy man. Those twenty dollars
which he had lost had been the savings
of two months of hGId labor, and he felt
their loss most keenly.
When he returned home that night he
told his wife that he lost. She found no
fault with him. She only kissed him and
told him that the lesson was good one,
even though it had been dearly bought.
But James Lanning was not satisfied.
He brooded over his loss with bitter
spirit, and at length the thought came to
him that he might yet draw prize. He
wished that he had not bought the first
ticket, and he thought that if he could
only get back his twenty dollars he would
buy no more; but he could not rest under
his loss. He was determined to make one
more trial, and he did So This time he
purchased the ticket without his wite's
| knowledge. The result was the same as
before. He drew blank.
Forty dollars!" was a sentence that
| dwelt tearfuliy upon the mechanics lips.
"Oh, must draw prize!' he said to
| himself Il must make up what | have
| lost. Let me once do that and III buy no
more tickets"
Another twenty dollars was taken from
the little bank, another blank was drawn.
| At the end of three months the little bank
was empty, and James tanning had the
last ticket in his pocket. All, how ear.
nestly he prayed that that last ticket might