Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1897-01-14
NY LOTTERY WIFE.


To win a wife by means of lotter3
may sound very dreadful in the ears Of
some folks, and yet I, Jack Drummond,
owe mine TO nothing more nor less than
ticket No. 0,O5S, $40 in the Brussels Grand
international lottery OF few years
ago.
1t occurred thus: 1 was in the low
est of low water, l, a playwright whose
pieces possessed-ef that the author at
least was convinced-the power Of
drawing large sul2s from the pockets
of the multitudinCus pleasure-seeliers 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 at
a suburban church entertainment, could
possibly write three-act comedy
which should make the boxes smile,
the stalls litter, the dress circle grin,
the pit roar and the gallery scream with
unrestrained merriment.
I was, as I have said, in low water.
I had sent my latest comedy-"Sober'
sides, the Funny Man"-to the actor
manager OF the Thespian, and was a lit
tie more than doubtful Of the result.
With "Sobersides, the Funny Man, "
pigeonholed at The Thesrian, I had
nothing to Go but struggle on as best
could on the minimum Of cash obtained
by doing sweated reviewing fer sup
posed respectable journal. One day
when I had scampered through ten vol
u1nes of written notices OF them for the
princely remuneration of half as many
shillings I was surprised (and not alto
gether agreeably) by a.yisit from my
uncle. a worthy button merchant OF
Birmingham, he would never forgive me
having quilted the position which he
had found for me in his Office, that
might seek to earn "beggary subsist-
ence" by my PEI. Pens" he would
say, "are made for bookkeeping-not
for bookmaking.' And bookInaking III
Fleet street was, 10 his mind, no less dis.
reputable than bookmahing on the race
course.
Well, Uncle Joe came, and if l did not
exactly welcome the coming, l was Ger
tainly delighted to speed the parting
guest. Before he left l had decided
that he was not so bad after all, for he
treated me to an excellent dinner, and
gave me-C"Ods banks and bullion!" as
Sir Lucius would have said)-a 6 so
note.
went to Euston to see the old boy of,
softened toward him almost to the de-
gree of offering 10 return like prod
igal son to BirIniI CHAM and its buttons,
As the train was on the point Of starting
Uncle Joe threw me an envelope, say
ing: 81 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 ticket in the Brussels
Grand International Lottery.
On the way to my lodgings I revolved
The question: What shall L do now?
determined to husband my means so
that I might live on the 6 so as long as
possible, while making further efforts
OF original work. Strong in my new
capitalist conceit, I wtote to the editor
whose sweated reviewer in-chief had
been, and threw up my connection with
his paper; and, then, having no ties OF
work 10 bind me tc London, deter.
mined to live on the continent as cheap
~ as possible while wrote another
play. a happy thought struck me;
why not 90 to Brussels while working
and waiting for something to turn lpf
I'VE are all more or less intimately con-
nected with the great family of Nicaw-
ber9I looked again at the lottery
ticket, and learned that the drawing
was at the end of July. Ever q creature
of impulse, I was by noon the following
day in Brussels.
had been in the Belgian capital be-
fore, and made my way at once to ar
unobtrusive hote! in a side street off the
Rue de Ia Madeleine. In the hotel en-
trance saw flaming bill about The
lottery, giving the exact date of the
drawing as July 4. A happy augury
this, thought I, for that will be indie
pendence dayl The first prize repre-
sented an enormous sum, the very con
gideration of which gave me the dreams
Of millionaire. ] began to consider my
ticket as a really valuable possession
almost as though it were an actual
draft for the amount of the first prize.
and at the very least as a kind of tai
lsman which was to pass me along the
road to good fortune. Such, indeed
1t was 10 prove, in manner ne7e
gould have imagined.
During my stay I was determined t
do Brussels thoroughly. I spent rny
mornings in work, my afternoons il
wandering in all quarters of the city
and my evenings at Wauxhal. Ga.
with light, life and music, the popula,
resort exercised a great fascination oyel
me.
On the first visit my eye was take1
by an obviously English couple who sa
near mean CID man and a young WON
an. The latter it was who attracted
me. Her pale face was full of characte.
and lit up by large, clear gray eyes
her whole expression being one of some
what listless sadness. found mysel
specializing as to who she was, wher
she lived, and why she lived, as soo1
decided that she must, in semi-solitud
with her morose father-I took thei.