Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-02-25
CHAPTER I.
RAGS AND TATTERs.

Lawrence Drane aWOke with SnuQ-
der from dream of poverty. Doubt
less many people would like to know
how he did it. Some of us have tried
it and failed. We have struggled with
this nightmare even when our eyes
were open, and have not cast 1t off. In
varions shapes it haunts the shadows
of this world. Mr.. Drane, however,
awoke; but before sending him our con-
CALCULATIONS let us see what he found
waiting for him.
The first thing he saw on opening his
eyes was ragged coat which lay upon
his arm. 1t was garment eminently
qualified to be offensive to a gentle
man; shiny, soiled and rave1ed at the
edges. Mr.. Drane blinked at it an in
slant and concluded that it must be
part of his recent troublesome fancies.
Get out, he muttered, sleepily, shak-
ing the garment to the floor; you're a
fake. dreamed you, and I'm going to
wake up in a minute"
No wonder he was deceived, for the
coat fitted the dream with diabolical &C.
curacy. 1t had not been vision of
financial embarrassment alone; he had
seen himself walking on the uppers of
| disgrace over the rocky road of despair.
Ills pESSS1Su DSSh
| great thankfulness that he was him
self again, a man of wealth and consid-
| eration; a gentleman by birth and
breeding. Then he had seen the ragged
coat and denied it's reality.
| He let his head fall upon the pillow
again and sank for a moment into
/ sleep. Then he awol1e with start.
"Queer notion about that coat" he
said, and glanced over the edge Of the
bed. The coat was there. None of its
| fine points had got away. The summer
isunbeams round the edges of the cur
Itains glinted upon its greasy wrist
bands and CLASSY sleeves. Mr.. Drane
sat upon the bed and stared stupidity at
the strange garment. The sight con-
fused him.
He tried to recall the events which
mad preceded his sleep. He remembered
his journey eastward from his home in
Kansas City; the business interests
which he had in charge; the hot, dusty
tiresome ride which had brought him tc
New York on his way to Boston. He
recalled how he had found himself Sc
tired that he had resolved to wait il
New York long enough to have a good
map in hotel; how he had entered thu
first one he found, and had stumbled
t-sleepily along in the wake Of the hall
boy to the room wherein he lay. Thel
he mad cast himself upon the bed afte
removing only his outer clothing.
by the way" thought he, with a sud
den start, 'swhere are my clothes
should like to know?''
, How easy it is to ask questions, AM
: how eternally hard it is to answer them
: Mr.. Drane's hasty but thorough searcl
t !of the apartment revealed no reply t
his very natural query. He did not fin
t his clothes because they were not there
!. but he did succeed in discovering
e waistcoat and pair of pantaloon
which owned disgraceful kinship wit
the coat.
''1f were drinking man." he NUT
y tered, in dire perplexity, 81 think that
) should find the motive for great refol
. nation somewhere in this affair"
l. =! At this moment he found himself cor
: fronted by mirror, and as his own re
0 Election met his eyes he couldn't hel
: being assailed by the idea that chang
had come over his countenance which
Il If it were not equal in extent to tina
which had overtaken his clothes, wa
. yet in the same unfortunate direction.
y OF course it was one of those crooke
: hotel mirrors which so shockingly wrec
=. the features of their victims. Accord
ing to this veracious glass, Mr.. Dram
had a swelling on his right cheek, an
! was afflicted with strabismus, erysipels
and disordered liver, complicated wit
u a three-days' beard. None of these pc
= sonal charms had any real existence e.
cept the beard, and that wasn't SO ba
: as it looked. In spite of it, Mr.. Dram
IS was very good-loolzing young man; bl
- he couldn't see it in that glass.
:; "Jingo!'' he exclaimed, as he gaze
upon this optical monstrosity. "They''
j. stolen me along with my clothes.
must have assistance"
h He turned to the annunciator and CO
suited the directions for its use. Firs
% he rang once for the hall-boy, but the
was no response. Then he gave thrt
= jabs for ice-water, but it did not com
J. Six for hack and seven for the poll
were equally unproductive; and wht
d he had tried eleven for the fire depal
Il ment and twelve for an ambulance
= gave it up,
"If they had given me permission
IL ring thirteen times for the coroner
% should feel that I had done my fl
Q duty" groaned Lawrence; and then
y " laughed, it was all so absurd. He fe
= in the pockets of the deplorab
a clothes which had been left for him, b
he did not find their late wearer's mar
. and address, nor any other article