Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1897-04-30
AN UNLUCKY NUMBER

He showed us lottery ticket, which III
said he had found secrotcd in the back o.
book which no had bought the day bc
fore AT one Of the bOokstalls / tool, the
piece of paper and examined it. 1t was TO,
500 600 and would be drawn for in hv.
weeks time.
Captain r., leaning out Of the window
with his chin resting on his hands, hac
scarcely noticed the entrance of the ole
man, hut when called him and held th,
scrap OF flinsy paper out toward him 10
turned terribly pale and sank back int
his seat.
"No. OBJ" he murmurcd, aghast.
Not another word could we get out O.
him. lie sat pale and dumb, like ont
turned into stone MIR. Sang placed the
ticket inside his pockctbook and mutteret
loud enough for us TO hear:
"One hundred thousand dollars Why.
that is % fortune But an old fool like M,
will rcyer WIN.
you will win" suddenly cried the
captain in strange, low tones, which mads
as both start
"How can you tellS' whispered the OLD
man eagerly
81 want you to get rid of that ticket, foI
as sure as we are living men you will be
| the loser in the end D."
"Ah Perhaps You would like TO secure
the ticket, said the old fellow with a
! peculiar smile
The captain only shrugged his shoul
1ers and turned TO the window.
Il know, said sang, THAT could gei
\ good sum for this ticket if it wcro known
! had il for sale. However, IA the captain
Is SO positive it will be drawn Will rctaiI
the ticket and run the risk of being tho
loser one hundred thousand dollars
! Why, | see whb 1t is--the captain is zeal
ous Ha, ha!'
He went out, and as he descended the
stairs heard him mumbling:
"You will be the loser in the end
What can the captain mean, | wonders"
He gained the street, and could hear nc
! more.
turned 10 Captain p. He was standing
silent and motionless at the window
For long time l sat Watching him
standing there SO pale and silent, all the
while racking my brain how to account
! Tor his strange conduct on seeing the
! number Of the lottery ticket-No SO
What painful recoilections did these two
| figures recall 10 his mindY l asked myself
The question over and over again, but
still remained in the dark.
All AZ once he closed the window and
simply said, as if speaking To himself:
There can bo no doubt about IL No.
53 is an accursod numborp'
Il do not understand you, captain"
said, for / began To feel curious.
He remained silent for some time as il
In deep thought, and l did not interrupt
him.
Listen" he said suddenly, land you
can Judge for yourself as to the truth of
my statement" He lit cigarette and
drew his chair TO the table.
eleven years ago, he began, "my
father, although considered 10 be very
sensible man, invested sum Of money in
a lottery. Iii. ckct was drawn, and he
became possessed of 500, 900 He was
fortunate So everybody said. |, too,
thought 50 at the time. One evening he
entered one of the gambling saloons, and
becoming fascinated by the play no lost all
his ready money in q few hours Then
all his property went and when he arose
from the table at midnight he was beg
gar Maddcued by his losses and rendered
insane 10y the knowledge of the grief of his
family, he shot himself through the heart
His ticket was No. 53!"
yet l cannot see how that goes to
prove your statement, | said. "Tht
same thing could happen with any mum
Der. "
"True," be replied. 81 attached no i'm
pOrtancc TO the number at the time. -Four
years went by, and l had almost forgotten
No SO, when "a fr1cnd Of mine in poor cir
cumstanccs managed TO buy u lottery tick.
et He won, like my father, 500, 600
Poor fellow! 1t was the price Of his reason
The sEddcn rise TO wealth turned his
brain, and he is now an inmate of an asy
luu. Now you will understand me wher
| tell you his ticket was No. 53P'
! shuddercd, but remained silent.
"You can have an idea, no went on
las to the state Of my feelings on seeing
poor Sang In possession OF a lottery ticket
bearing the fatal No. 53H'
l could answer nothing To me Il
seemed ine2plicable.
The day of drawing slowly came round
and, as the captain had foretold, Sang,
ticket was drawn No. 90 was announce,
the winner
When the captain heard of it. lac shooh
his head and murmured:
"Waitl Watt
Sang forsook Hooley street and bought
for himself nice little villa. He was
talked Of as being lucky man and was
envied by all except Captain j.
"You will loo the loser in the end, " the
captain had said But now / began to
think he was mistaken.
One morning scarcely three months
after the drawing Captain II. placed
newspaper before me and without word
pointed out certain paragraph. | read
with almost stiflcd heart that "a thief had
entered Sang's house the night before, and
while searching for the money, which wa
believed TO he sccretcd in the house, he
aroused the owner, whom he stabbed to
death
The captain was right. Sang was IN,
loser
There is "a solution 20 every mystery
Can you solve the mystery of No. 53'
Captain - aad myself CONFESS ourselvc