, 1888-01-24
THE FIVE DOLLAR BILL.

49, - - ~ blLIJs
''What do you think of that thing US n
capital to get an cducation?" queried the
young six footer from tho west. He cx-
tracted a bill from n long, FIAT pocketbook
rs he spoke and tossed it upon tho table
in front Of him. IT. was a IS note that
had evidently passed through few hands,
and yet was no late issue from tho gov
ernmcnt's money factory, Tor the dull,
furred lines along the crcases told of long
storage in some tight quarters. With it,
whitencd places along the folds and the
remnants Of smartness about the rest of
its face, it bore q family resemblance to n
gray headed, rosy checked, dead black
mustachcd police sergeant Of the old
regime.
The young man of the cast picked up
the bill, unfolded it and le!surcly in
spcctcd it under tho kindly glare Of the
incandescent lights of the Sixth avenue
chop house in which he and his friends
were sitting. Two ''rabbits'' had disap-
peared TO make arrangements for visions
ot the night, the second brace OF fat
''tobies" had suffered seriously from
draught, and half an inch of tobacco ON
each cigar had burned into 1aky white
ness. 1t Was q wet, chilling night out
side; it was n CHEEKY, warm evening
within. And so the young man of the
cast was nothing loath to hear the tale of
the SIS bill.
81 don't know why it was" quoth the
narrator, cor just how it was hat l came
to ut for college. 1t was partly luck, md
partly, ! suppose, because my old Yankee
schoolmaster, who had drifted west al
most the year l was born, chung to the
New England idea that after the three
RS came Latin, Greek and algebra in
voc, --aI1 ,-A-,1,t,1 -
away Mt them dutifully for three or four
winters-school didn't keep there in
spring or summer then, the scholars had
other engagements at hat time of the
year-without much idea what my work
was leading to, until when VIC said our
pieces on the last day of the term, the old
ono took me aside.
"'Wcll, he said, you're about fitted
for college, / guess. Which one are you
going tor
THAT was tho first I'd heard of college.
First the idea scared me, then it ticklcd
me. Before 1 slept that night l had made
up my mind; I'd make the venture. And
the schoolmaster settled my choice of col
leges when he said: You will have to pay
your way; you will have to make money;
go where there's most of it spent, where
there are most rich youngsters who don't
realize that II 81 bill sometimes means n
| way y NDlh " q llltLD IlltN A. FDtllu DIlI
you'll profit, or else our fathers We're
born in Connecticut for nothing
well, l came cast that fall, passed my
entrance CEaminations-for after all 1
found that the old Yankee had Jeen n
good tcachcr-and struck up an acquaint-
ancc with one of the professors whose
looks l liked. lie gave me valuable nd
vice, told me where to get q room, and
boy t. fit IL up witt n stove, three or -four
| flr rirl rtp NynG pvt rpy npnnt an met
one point bought q good bed. When
these things We're paid for l had just Sc
this bill and some change. That night
was my own, for the college work didn't
begin until the next morning. walked
out umong the dOrmitorics, and there l
made my first strike. a tTuCkman had q
load Of trunks to deliver on the upper
floors. | offered my aid and he took it.
For that | made enough to be sure of
something to cat for another day without
impairing my capital, md | felt easier.
The next day l began to get acquainted
with the men, and before night l had
secured n roommate. Low as my rent
was wauted to have it shared by some
one else. But eating was another ques-
ton, my appetite permitting no division,
and, although l did my best to pick out
the cheap and filling from the bills of
fare, ! was down to my five dollar bill be-
fore l made my ncX discovery.
"llalf n dozen boys in my division had
formed n Club and l was dining with
one Of them when it came. My friends
were getting pretty bad board md paying
pretty dearly for it. They knew it as
well as and fell to talking about it, and
from the conversation l got an idea. That
night l Travelled about the college neigh
borhood until l found n house whose mis-
trcss agreed to furnish mo with table nc
commudations for ten men, do the cook
ing and furnish the necessary service. l
had lone some mental figuring in the
meantime, and knew that her price was
satisfactory. But | went to my friends,
and that evening | had secured rinc to
join my club and pay me SO n week
apiece. On the $5i figured it ont that
l would lie able to pay ten mems cT-
pCnscs. The plan is common enough Mt II
good many colleges, l have since learned,
but it YVES new there. But l soon found
that as n caterer | was Mt n disadvantage.
1t was hard work to get credit Mt the
shops, for my IS bill was something !
couldn't use to impress the grocCrs Cud
butchers successfully, my boardcIs had
vigorous uppctitcs and n catholic liking
for pretty much everything. 1t was n
close scrapc of it for n month. Then l
got n bit ahead and began to feel easier,
until two circumstances combined to
nearly ruin me. They came together
one wa n snow storm, the other was an
accident disabling one of my bonrders,
who owed me quite n little account.
"To tell the truth, l hadn't noticed how
the winter had been coming on, and the
snow caught me 1t meant
that / must have nm overcoat, just Mt the
time one of my sources of revenue was
cut Off. In fact, l had been depending
upon the injured man paying up his score
to give me n little spending money, and
saw that rs far as my restaurant was con
ccrned | could look for no help from it on
the clothing account. But / had to have
the cont. There was no doubt aboutit, in
fact, it was surprising how cold l felt.
Therc was just ore thing to do, and l hur-
cicd down town.