Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-10-03
how | WON NY Wife.

was Ia the lowest Of low water. I.
Q playwright whose pieces possessed
of that the author at least was con.
vinced-the power Of drawing large
sums from the pockets Of the multi.
tudinous pleasure-scekers Of the
metropolis. Alas! had not con.
WINGED the managers that I. a frank
outsider" whose only dramatic fame
rested upon the production Of farce
ct q suburban church entertainment,
could possibly write a threc-cent CON-
edy which should make the boxes
smile. the stalls litter. the dress circle
grin, the pit roar. and the gallery
scream with understandable merri-
ment.
I was. as have said. In low water.
had scnt my latest comedy-"Sober.
sides. the Funny Man"-to the actor.
manager Of the Thespian. and was a
little more than doubtful Of the result.
With "Sobersitles. the Funny Man."
pigeon.holed at the Thespian, had
nothing to do but to struggle on as
best could on the minimum Of cash
obtained by doing sweating reviewing
for a supposed respectable journal.
One day when I had scampered
through ten volumes and written not
ices Of them for the prlnccly remuner-
alton of half as many shillings I was
surprised land not altogether agree.
ably by visit from my uncle. A
worthy button merchant Of Blrming.
ham, he would never forgive me hav.
ing Quilted the position which he had
found for me In his office. that might
Geek to earn "beggarly subsistence
By my pen. "Pens," he would say,
''are made for bookkeeping-not for
bookmaking." And bookmaking In
Fleet street was. to his mind, no less
diyreputable than bookmaking ON the
race course.
Well, Uncle Joe came, and II did
not exactly welcome the coming, I was
certainly delighted to speed the part.
ing guest. Before he left had de.
clded that he was not no bad after all,
for he treated me to an excellent din.
ner. and gave me-("Ods banks and
bullion as Sir Lucius would have
saba fifty-pound note.
went to EustOn to see the old boy
Oh, softened toward him almost to the
degree OF Offering to return like q prod
igal to Birmingham ana It's buttons. Al
the train was ON the point Of starting
Uncle Joe threw me an envelope. say
ing, II was fool enough to buy that
when In Brussels. You may have IT,
Jack, for all It's worth"
The envelope. much to my amuse
ment. contained a ticket In the Brussels
Grand International Lottery.
On the way to my lodgings re-
volved the question: What shall de-
now? I determined to husband my
means so that might live on the $3.50
a. long as possible. while making fur
Their efforts at original work. Strong
In my new capitalist concelt. wrote
to the editor whose sweated reviewer
in-chief I had been; and threw up my
connection with his paper; and then
having no ties Of work to bind me tC
London, I determined to live on the
Continent as cheaply as possible while
Iwrote another play. \ happy thought
struck me; why not go to Brussels
while working and waiting for some
thing to turn up? I'VE are all more OF
less intimately connected with the
great family OF Micawber.) looked
again at the lottery ticket, and learned
that the drawing was ut the beginning
Of July. Ever creature Of impulse,
was by noon the following day II
Brussels.
] had been In the Belgian capital be
fore, and made my way at once to al
unObtrusive hotel In side street of
the Rue de Ia Madeleine. In the hOte
entrance I saw a flaming bill about thu
lottery, giving the exact date Of thu
drawing as July 4. A happy augur!
this, thought !, for that will be indie
pendence day! The first prize repre-
scented an enormous sum, the very con
slderation Of which gave me tn
dreams Of a millionaire. began 4
consider my ticket as really valuabl
possession, almost as though It wer
an actual draft for the amount OF tn
first prize, and at the very least as
kind Of talisman which was to pas
me along the road to good fortune
Such, indeed, II was to prove, In
manner I could never have imagined.
During my stay was determined +
do Brussels thoroughly. ! spent m
mornings in work, my afternoons u
wandering In all quarters Of the city
and my evenings at Wauxhall. Ga
with light, life and music, the popula
resort exercised q great fascinatio
over me.
On the first visit my eye was take
by an obviously English couple VIII
sat near mean old man and youn
woman. The latter 1t was who attrac
ed me. Her pale face was full OF chal
acter and lit up by large, clear era
eyes, her whole expression being on
Of somewhat listless sadness. foun
myself specializing as to who SIZE wa
where she lived, and why she lived,
! soon decided that she must. In sem
solitude with her mor0se fatller-l too
their relationship for granted-wl
scarcely ever, while they were With
my ken, addressed word 10 her.
SNbt after night ! We Z to Waul