The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-05-16
THAT LOTTERY
TICKET
BY NJ. QUAD
BY M. QUAD
Copyright. 1911. by Associated Lit
erary Press.

Il doctor sent for. and III two days ne
was dead The verdict ut the inquest
! was that be had died from sickness
aud exposure.
When the coroner overhauled the
dead wayfarers pockets he found lots
of simple things and ticket In a
prussluu lottery. This ticket was in
All envelope and had been kept clean.
II was for quarterly drawing
that would not take place for nine
weeks yet. aud according TO its face
it might draw prize of Saata1 No
one In Scottsville had ever seen such
ticket before. and very little was
said or thought about 1t for three or
/ four days. or until certain New York
drummer came TO town on one of his
trips. He was appealed to for infor-
nation, and his reply was:
We'll. guess yes. I've bought
them myself. though I've never had
any luck. Why, I've known four diff
feFent men who have drawn fortunes
In that lottery. It's backed by the
as forty national banks"
The drummer created an instant ex-
element about that ticket II started
right In as main topic OF conversa-
ton and held the place. Then light
ming rod man came along and offered
500 cash for It. He knew three men
who got their start In life by draw
Ing large sums In that very lottery.
Three days later hog drover came
along and made an offer Of $3.50 for
the ticket According to his story.
one of the members of the beef trust
got his first 81 .000 from that very lot
i terry. Then tin peddler offered his
whole outfit for the ticket, and the
town Of Scottsvflle begun to buzz.
! OF sudden the landlord of the tav-
ern demanded possession Of the ticket,
to have and to hold until the debt to
him had been paid A tramp had died
In his house. He had put In bill to
the town for SO. but on thinking It
over had concluded that 500 was lit
tie enough. The coroner was an hon.
est man. but he might get drowned in
the mill pond and the ticket soaked to
pulp.
The carpenter who had made the
FIVE dollar coffin jumped his claim to
$50 and demanded that he be protected
by having the ticket turned ever to
him. The sexton followed suit. The
doctor In the case who had admins.
tered only one dose of medicine had
not made out his bill yet. but when
he did 1t would he for at least $50.
1t was case that had bothered him,
and be couldn't afford TO be bothered
for less than half hundred.
Then came a day when Scottsville
was almost swept of its feet and left
gasping for breath. Along came Mr..
Jones. q cattle and hog buyer. He was
no old sport, but he knew a good
thing when he saw 1t. He always in
vested In that lottery. He had bought
that ticket in the city. He had lost
1t on the road. and tramp had found
It. he must be handed his property
or there would be such row as that
part Of the state had never heard of.
Mr.. Jones was good buffer. but
when 1t came to taking an oath he
faltefed and was run out of town.
Then there came a deacon of the
church from village few miles
away. He came In humility and
shame. but still be came. His village
wanted new church building. but the
members Of that particular faith were
poor in purse. It had worried them.
but 1t worried the deacon worst of all.
He had figured every way he could.
but could see no light until he saw
the advertisement of that lottery. He
turned to it as a saving clause. He
sent money and got the ticket. 1t was
against his conscience, and he told
nobody Of 1t. Whatever money the
ticket drew was to be freely given to
the erection Of the new church. This
was no doubt the true story of the
ticket. which had been stolen from the
deacon's house by the tramp, but had
1t been ten times true it would not
have been handed over to him
The day before the drawing, when it
did not seem that the excitement could
go higher without exploding some
thing. the drummer and the lightning
rod man returned. They bid against
each other for the ticket. Perhaps
they understood each other, but their
faces were very grave as the bidding
stopped at $T00. Then a huge bonfire
had to be built to relieve the strain.
Few slept that night. and next day a
public purse was made up to send a
messenger to the city for news of the
drawing. He didn't take the ticket
with him-oh, no! That would be TAX
en- later on by crowd of honest and
determined men. each one armed to
the teeth.
| At the end of the third day the mes
senser returned. He was cheered. He
was assisted from the stage with ten
DER hands. He was assisted to mount
q barrel. and then the crowd fell away
and waited for his words. He calmly
looked about him and then calmly
said:
"Feller-citizens. That ERE ticket
Thirty seconds of awful suspense.
THAT ERE ticket didn't draw durn-
| ed thingp
One wild, long drawn yell of disap-
pointment and anger and terror, one
long hour Of kicks and cuffs and re-
| nrisala nf1n wfnI rirht In x.,i,iah 4.