The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-06-03
NUMBER 777.


cred so very disreputable, and when
worthy people sometimes bought tickets
and made no secret of the matter.
1t was a good while ago, of course,
and you would have to look long for the
worthy gentleman who one night about
dark walked into lottery Office for the
purpose of buying ticket. He had
tight boots and light trowsers with straps,
and the fur collar of his coat stood up
above his ears, and he wore that awful
thing, a stock, about his throat, and he
was in the height of that years fashion,
and was regarded by those who met him
rather with admiration than with the
stare of astonishment with which we
should greet him now-with which, in
deed, we should greet any of the ladies
or gentlemen of that year; the first hab-
tied as above, with curly, bell-shaped
hats upon their heads, and twisted canes
in their hands; the latter with coal-scut-
tie bonnets and leg mutton sleeves,
and two cores in their skirts, which were
short, and showed low slippers and silk
stockings, and long-stringed work bags
on their arms, and big parasols over the
big bonnets, before which hung for mod
esty's sake curtains of black or white
lace which they called wells.
|
mans name, stepping up to the counter,
asked to look at tickets. Perhaps he
held the superstition that there was luck
in odd numbers, for as soon as they were
| spread before him he decided on the
number III, paid its price and walked
off with it in his waistcoat pocket. AS
he turned the corner the big poster on
| the wall seemed to be written especially
for him:
"Capital prize, $4,000. Tickets five
dollars each. Don't delay"
81 had dream that meant luck last
night, said Mr.. Rogers to himself; land
have fancy that | shall draw the
great prize. That's a splendid number"
Then he turned another corner and
spied face peeping out of the window
of small brick house. The face of
Mrs. Rogers, who feared that Mr.. RS
favorite dish was spelling.
That reminds me-" said Mr.. Rogers,
" must not tell Esmerelda The luck
will be spoilt if one tells of the ticket
and she'd talk SO much of it-women will
talk so much"
So Mr.. Rogers drank his tea and said
nothing OF the lottery ticket, which he
hid at the bottom of his trunk, a bulg-
ing, hair-covered thing with L. r. on the
side in brass nails.
But, though he said nothing, his mind
was full of it; he thought of that capital
prize of 1000 while he ate his break
fast; he dined off it; he dreamed of it, He
was a schoolmaster, and while ruling the
boys copy-books and setting copies for
them he was so filled with the idea that
all the boys who had reached z had
Prize written for them, and all the boys
who had come to ID had Draw, Drawing
before their eyes, while those with rs
copied Tick, Ticket, Tick, Ticket, all the
writing hours.
Little Mrs. Rogers, who was much
younger than her husband, saw that some
thing was on his mind, but did not dare
to ask what it was He tossed and turned
in his sleep, and scribbled sevens on the
newspaper, and on the backs of letters,
and even wrote the magic figure on his
nails with lead pencil. And once in a
moment of excitement, caused by some
body asking the first day of the month,
said with great fervor:
"And ] only wish it was the 1st of
next month";"
"Why, dear?" asked Mrs. Rogers.
"Oh," said Mr.. Rogers, "it's-it's my
birthday, you know"
"Oh, yes, so it is" said Mrs Rogers,
"but never knew you cared for birth
days, my dear"
And Mr.. Rogers did not tell her that
the lottery-drawing took place on the 1st
of September.
1t was breakfast time when this re-
mark was made, and Mrs. Rogers sat
over the table long after her spouse had
left, wondering what sort of present she
could make him for his birthday. She
had not a penny of her own, nor had she
any means of earning one; and to send a
man birthday present for which the
bill must come in to him might not be
considered delicate attention even from
a wife.
- don't suppose can give him any
thing nicer than pen-wiper or a pin
cushion" she said with sigh; "but FL
do that, at least"
And then she rummaged out of her
bag of odds and ends black cloth and
scarlet velvet and few gold beads
gilt, rather-and hid them at the bottom
of her work-basket.- There were only
three days between that and the 1st of
September; and when she had remem.
bered the design of fine pen-wiper-a
butterfly, gorgeous with red and black
wings and the gold eyes and body, she
set to work diligently; and, needing a
card for the center of the affair, peered
into boxes and drawers, until at the bot
tom of Mr.. Rogers hair trunk she found
the very thing she wanted, yellow
dingy, thumb-marked thing with TT
upon it, and made use of it at once
Then sweetly smiling and quite uncon-
scious of what she had done she finished
off the pen-wiper with antenna of gold
thread and hid it until the birthday
should dawn.
On that day, the wonderful 1st day of
September, Mr.. Rogers arose betimes
so did his wife. She presented him with
his pen. wiper, he accepted 1t with kiss,
and pretended to feel thankful, though
it only reminded him of his desk, his
copies, the slavery of his life
Now that the time was come he felt
sure that he had only squandered money
that ~ was a blank. He dreaded the
knock of the news-carrier-the glance al
the column of the paper in which the
prizes would be published. He groaned
and hid his face III his hands
"'Are you i'll, dear?" asked Mrs. Rogers.
He only groaned again.
But al this moment came the paper.
mans knock, and with sudden revolu-
ton of feeling he rushed to the door.
He took the paper into his shaking hands
and spread it on the table, and the first
words that met his eyes were:
~. CAPITAL PRIZE, SIC. coo.
| The effect of this announcement on
Mr. Rogers was tremendous. He started
to his feet and danced about the room.
He shouted "huzzahI' and gave three
cheers, as though he had been at a
political meeting. Then he rushed to
the table where his bows copy books Law