The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-11
AMBITION AND LEMON PIE.
New tho object OF the One Was Ruined by =
strong laundering Tor the other.

sN
During tho war, said a welEknown New
Yorker, 81 was an apprentice In n Philadelphia
| printing Office. / had no idea, however, of losing
myself on the arid wastes of n typographical
career, for my youthful inclination was toward
the stage. / longed to conquer famo and COM
| pei fortune In that branch OF the dramatic pro-
fession dedicated to mirth and melody and
familiarly known as the nigger minstrels. 1
especially wanted TO gyratc, posture. comfort,
and shuttle s a song-and-dancema man. There was
but one obstacle TO the full fruition Of that
ardent yearning. ! couldn't dance and
I couldn't sing. But Bill Heck, my
'butty' in the office, could do both, and
the ambition OF his life was the Same
as mine. He achcd to seize the bubble reputa-
ton, but he wanted 1t p~lastered all over with
burnt cork. His ambition was so large and sinewy
that It took him by the neck. so to speak, and
forced him to invest the combined wages OF a
month in n banjo. Then Bill undertook the task
OF initiating meinto the mysteries OF mclodcous
Orpheus and frisky Tcrpsichorc, and by and by
the future looked bigger with success than n ton
of hay. But great futures are rulod by trifies.
A trife In the shape OF n strong hankering after
pic, common rs was our longing for fame, inter
fcred with Bill Heck's and mine.
"There was n hotel not far from the printing
Office. It's bill of fare was daily printed at our
oliiNts ShhifNNP "Si' aAhsf'aN AA NhN $1,000 ~
day, and a proof had to be submittcd TO the
steward OF the hotol. Early in the days of that
bill OF fare the mouth watering fact became
known among the boys in the office that the car
rying OF the proof to the hotcl met with the In
evitablc reward OF the bestowal OF one pic on the
fortunate proof. bearer. which pie was to be eaten
on the premises. The quality OF tho pastry
having been pronounced by all who had bitten
1t as not to be even spoken of without
- a-
ture that bill OF fare copy when 1t came
In was great. inasmuch rs the job included
the carrying of the proof around to the hotel.
II occurred to me one day after having ycarned
more than n week vainly for n hack at the stew
ards pie. that IL | were ever TO court sweet
safety in that hotel kitchen I must summon
cunning to my aid. So next day I summoned n
whole lot OF cunning and went out and stood at
the head OF the Office stairs, where I intended TO
waylay the boy who fetched in the bill of fare
copy for the daily corrections, secure the job
there and then. and incidentally earn pic. l
can't begin to tell how ] gloated over being
such n sly md surrcptitious rascal as ! stood at
the landing waiting for that hotel boy and
thought of the awful dismay that would seize
my fellow longers for pie when ] strobe in
among them with the warrant for entry to the
stewards presence. ! can't begin to tell il
Heck had also been n stranger 10 the ho-
tel pic for many days, his luck ms n competitor
for tho possession of the bill OF faro copy having
been as bad as mine. So some evil genius had
suggested to him likewise the summoning Of as
much cunning as he could get together to aid
him in the emergency. But Bill, somehow, had
a bigger pull on cunning than | had, and he took
a mean advantage of me. So much 80 that his
conduct panied me. ] felt that he had cruelty
d~issembled and given me reason to suspect that
the oneness of our desires WAS not so entirely
one after all. Else why had Bill posted himself
on the sidewalk at the bottom of those stairs
that day. and there relieved the hotel boy OF tho
head Of the stairs to rifle him Of it myself
lime s" Srlnss It's re rpv Sa%s'; 6dr Words ths to that Effect.
be. but II gets around with its revenscs ali right.
The very next day, after ! had been so cruelty
deceived BY one whom m, ! had trusted !. ;" much hn;hr !
Bill Heck could get his fingers on i. almost
foundered myself with cunning, and while Bill.
whose duplicity had cost me much grief ana
hunks OF pie, was lurking again at tho foot of
the stairs. ready to poIncc upon tho hotel boy
And h S.e' him up. Then Wen. hack. Bin Heck
waved the copy Before his eyes and chuSEled
g~lecfully; Then Bill was moved to let some
INSTALL WSssi st''f fhe mo %as RSp pe 9n r,siSE "a fsll lin in t them
as began correcting the bill Of fare form: Bill
slaneed i oyer of the he copy 90 as i, lay before me h to !. 500
the list. Lemon pie! Bill's favoritc pastry, md
all for me IL l chose 1t Mt tho stewards hands!
The thought was too much. 1t was so full Of
despair. and Bill WAS so empty of pie that
the human endurance he had with him that
day wasn't enough TO withstand the exist
INK condition Of things. md no rose up
like the dread sirocco of tho desert and
thumped me in the neck. II was u forccful
thump. and the celestial panorama that II
spread for n few seconds before my astonished
vision would have caused such delight 10 an
! astronomical student that he would have thrown
half n dozen FITS. When the floating nchulT,
the twinkling fixed stars, the cleaning planets.
the two or three blazing comets, and tho general
stellar system that Bill Hcck's impetuous and
capable fist had set in motion before me had faded
away into thin air and gone, / found myself on
the floor, minRlinR with sundry iron chases.
brass galleys, and other loose appurtCnances uf
n Job composing room. When l rose William
was absent. He had departed tho office, SO they
told me. Immediately after mixing me up with
the things on the floor. He never came back.
81 have never seen Bill Heck from that day
is dead II OF course isn't OF much consequence
whether he and prosperity are hand in hand or
not. II he is alive and isn't prospering 1t is a
hundred TO ten that he chides himself for letting
overwecning passion for lemon pie wither, like
nipping frost, that fair young ambition OF his
and mine. What was n whole bakery of lemon
pie to n future big with a fur collar nine inches
wide, chccker.board trousers, n seven-carat dia.
mond. and your name on n board fence in two
foot letters, announced as the bright particular
star In a galaxy OF 40-connt 'em-I0 Bright
Stars OF Refined Minstrelsyi What. even.
were mountains OF lemon pie to that, rashly UNI
fortunate william Heckl"