The record-union., 1896-04-19


and this was soon observed by Skinner,
great friend of mine, and who occu-
pied an adjoining desk. He saw that
something was wrong, and twitted me
with being in love- persisting in his as
sertions until they became absolute per-
secutions, in view of the fact that never
in my life had been further from being
in that agreeable CD dilemma.
After thinking the matter over at
length to concluded make a confidante
of Skinner, and accordingly made clean
breast of it to him, giving him in detail
everything which had transpired, ex-
ceptlng, as q matter of course, the WIN
ming number. Skinner being an enthu-
slast at everything he undertook
which applied to other people-eXtem-
por1zed in a wonderful manner, re-
counting incident after incident in
which like revelations had been seen,
each Of which had been a truthful fore
cast of what followed Skinner did not
greatly strengthen my hopes of win
ming, but he quieted my nerves, con-
graduated me on my great luck and
asked me for a loan of a hundred as
soon as the drawing was over, provided
succeeded in cornering the ticket rep
resentlng the revealed numbers This
readily promised, as 1 should have
done had he asked for thousand.
By morning the town knew every in
cldent connected with the mysterious
revelation better than l did myself
ct Tor all that l was buttonholed on
every corner and had to recount all
knew, and a little more, to everyone,
from the bootblack to the Mayor all Of
whom, 1t appeared, had invested, and
all OF whom accorded me the privilege
or being the lion of the day-one of the
seven WOnderS-and one whose ac-
quaintance ought to be cultivated, re-
gardless of place, time or expense.
was at first very reticent in expressing
an opinion as to my belief in the vision,
but before evening had met with such
hearty goodwill that 1 threw my re-
serve to the winds and boldly pro-
claimed, as it was expected 1 should,
that the only doubt had as to winning
lay in my ability to secure the ticket
bearing the numbers shown in the Wis
ion.
Three days; five days; a week, and
then the Postmaster handed me a letter
bearing foreign postmark, saying: Il
hope, my dear fellow, that you have
got it and" But withdrew, leaving
him chattering away and sought a Sc
cluded place, where I opened my letter,
and there, printed upon a slip of nearly
transparent paper, stood out the mys-
tical figures, g 5, 3, 1 and 5, and
l had won.
The number was no longer kept Sc
cret from the town, but the winner"
as 1t was called was passed from hand
to hand, examined closely and passed
back again, with the invariable assur-
ance that I was "a lucky dog" to which
sentiment I gave my heartfelt concur
renee.
After the first novelty of the situation
had somewhat subsided men began to
look at my winning number from a
business standpoint and while they
seemed morally certain Of my success
they were inclined to doubt the faith I
myself pinned onto the investment AS
consequence, number Of them be-
gan to feel their way cautiously by Of
fering to buy my ticket for double what
It had cost me. But they received for
answer chilling silence in which un-
spoken sarcasm preponderated.
This silence on my part called for
more generous offers until at length
my fellow spectators had got far up
into the thousands in their attempt to
buy my luck" But my firmness in
creased as each day passed and 1 in
formed them, one and all, thatSnot one
cent under the amount Of the man.
moth prize would buy my ticket. Upon
this one more bold than his compan-
ions inquired of me what 1 should do
provided my ticket did not win.
1 was at first inclined to hail this
question with a deserving silence, but
reading in the surrounding eyes the
wish that I should rise superior to the
insult. I turned to my interrogator and
with whitening smile said slowly and
with great firmness:
''In that case, sir, I shall emigrate."
Thus the days passed by, and with the
advice Of my now many friends threw
up my position on the Daily Specula-
tor" and took quarters in the only first
class hotel the village could afford, scat
tering the couple of hundred dollars
had saved up, living on my expecta-
tions. Many solid business men invited
me into their establishments and offered
me unlimited credit, and to humor them
I laid in large stock of goods, few of
which / needed, most of which no one
would ever need.
I had become an object Of great solici-
tude to the ladies, and it is my belief
that 1 might have chosen from among
them. One in particular, Lawyer Snub-
bles' daughter, reputed to be worth a
half million in her own right, literally
threw herself at me, but / quietly stood
from under, mentally concluding that
should look higher than plain Miss
Snubbles, even though she could double
my own fortune Gn perspective) and
make me millionheir at a bound, with
out any incumbrance. other than her
own plump self. I was not for sale, and
weights began to fall.
All things must have an end, and this
trying time was no exception to the rule
The day at length arrived on which I
should have official news from the
drawing. The day for which 1 had so
long waited, and which was to witness
the home coming of my ship" appeared
on schedule time. New interest revived
in me and my lucky number A last
offer was made me which would have
dazzled any other man less sure Of sue
cess. Young ladies. fair of face aud
'heeled" as to fortune, tempted me to
take quiet walks along lonely lanes, ex-
pecting to hear me say the words they
were evidently waiting for Their
mammas gushed and paraded their
daughters accomplishments and ducats
before me, while their papas drew me
aside and offered to take me into their
business as silent partner, with moth
ing to do except to draw down my diyi-