Evening star., 1903-08-15
TOO DEEP A MYSTERY

IT lost out on a chance to win q whole
high hat full Of money week or so ago.
on account of my natural and personally
conducted slow-wfttedness." remarked a
somewhat disconsolate-loolking young man
with coat of tan and that just-back-from-
the-beach manner.
There's a deep, dark, crafty proposition
out in Chicago. an old-time pal of mine,
who every once in while gets on the inside
of one of these cunningly framed-up horse
races called hog g-slaughterings' by the wise
people with the bullet heads. When he
runs into anything of this sort that he looks
upon as particularly juicy he sometimes
sends me a wire about it, so that can play
names of things that look like winners to
him, or that he has heard are going to he
made certain winners he uses a sort of
beat-about-the-b bush code of his own. so as
to avoid coming right out in the telegram
and giving the name of the horse.
~.Before I went to Atlantic City three
weeks ago l wrote to him telling him that
there was handy room down there where
bet could be got down, and reminded him
that If anything peculiarly sweet swan into
his ken during the next couple of weeks I'd
like to have him fit the same along to me,
to the end that 1 might cop out expense
money.
We'll, one afternoon about ten days ago
when l returned to my Atlantic City hotel
after the morning swim found a telegram
in my box. 1t had Chicago date line, and
it read this way:
Play fellow that hummed to evening
star, fourth race. cinch. Jack.
That was pretty fathomless one for
me to try to plumb. l grabbed a news
paper off the stand and turned to the Chi
cago entries and rubbered through the list
of horses scheduled to go in the fourth
race. without getting any light whatever.
The fellow that hummed to evening
| myself 7
gaZed over the fourth race entries again
and again trying to dope out the mysterious
suggestion. There wasn't horse in the
race that had a name even remotely sug-
geStlng star, or evening, or hummer, or
anything like that, and came pretty nigh
claw1ng my hair out endeavoring to get
line on my Chicago friends meaning. L
took the telegram to the hotel clerk, a good
deal of horse fiend himself and let him
figure on 1t for long time, too. but he
couldn't make head nor tail of it, either.
AT the luncheon table I propped that
telegram up in front of me and gazed and
gazed at 1t as 1 waded through the meal,
trying to unravel the nub of the suggestion,
but it was no use.
After luncheon sent my Chicago friend
Il neglected to state that he is turf re-
porter for Chicago newspapers wire
addressed to the Chicago track, asking him
to elucidate the meaning of his first dis
patch. l didn't have much hope that it
would reach him in time for him to wire
me reply that would enable me to get
down piece of coin on the good thing in
the fourth race at Chicago, but l made the
effort, anyhow.
Il put in mean. guessy afternoon of it,
waiting around the hotel for reply to my
telegram. At o'clock, when no telegram
arrived, gave it up-I knew that even If it
did come then | wouldn't be able to get
out to South Atlantic in time to get down
on the good thing. So l strolled over to the
steel pier to listen to the royal Italian
Band, my mind still filled with the good
thing at Chicago that l was missing on ac-
count of the indefiniteness, or vagueness,
or whatever you want to call it, of my
friends telegram.
'On the pier 1 picked up one of the band
programs and began to idlyrun my eye over
the list of pieces that the band was rem
dering. 1t was then about 4:3O o'clock in
the afternoon. One of the pieces on the
program caught my eye. 1t was a flute OBJ
ngato, Wolframs Song to The Evening
Star, from Wagners 'Tannhauser.' piece
of music that l have been acquainted with
and fond of ever since 1 grew up. And. of
course, l tumbled to the meaning of the
telegram instantly l saw that pieces name
on the program. l pulled the paper with
the entries out of my pocket and there,
in the fourth race. as big as life was the
name of the horse Wolfram 1 tore the pa
per into two-inch bits and chucked the
pieces over the rail into the sea, and then 1
went back to the hotel cussing myself out
for my thickheadedness in not having been
able to dope out the name of the good
thing at glance upon the receipt of the
telegram.
There was another telegram in my hotel
box when l got there. 1t was from my
Chicago friend, in reply to my inquiry. 1t
read:
Wolfram. you unspeakable pin-head.
He's just strolled in at $50 to /, and I'm
only few short of being a millionaire.
Jack.
Il went to bed about o'clock that night
I couldn't stand for having anybody even
talk to me-.