The Washington herald., 1914-12-06
(Copyright, HL.l
TINE God of Coincidence is fortunate
in possessing innumerabls press


the right moment he extends II across
continents and drags two and two to-
gether, thus causing four to result where
but for him skies and sevens would have
been obtained, they have made known
to the readers Of all OF our best news
papers. For instance, Holworthy Is leav-
ing for the Congo to find cure for the
sleeping sickness, and for himself any
sickness from which one is warranted
never to wake up. This is his condition
because the beautiful miIlion-heiress who
is wintering at the Alexander Young
Hotel in Honolulu has refused to answer
his letters, cables, and appeals.
He is leaning upon the rail taking his
last neck-breaking look at the Woolworth
Building The going-ashore bugle has
sounded. pocket handkerchiefs are wav-
ing; and Joe Hutton, the last visitor to
leave the ship, is at the gangway.
''Good-by, HoIworthy!" he calls.
Where do you keep yourself? Haven't
seen you at the club in a year,"
Haven't been there in year-nor
mean to-" is the ungracious reply OF our
hero.
Then, for heavens sake" exclaims
Hutton, send some one to take your
mail out of the II box! Every time l
look for letters wade through yours"
Tear them up" calls Holworthy.
They're bills
Hutton now is halfway down the gang
plank.
Then your creditors" he shouts back,
must all live at the Alexander Young
Hotel in Honolulu
That night an express train shrieking
through the darkness carried with 1t to-
ward San Francisco
In this how evident is the fine Italian
hand of the God of Coincidence!
Had Hutton's name begun with an M;
had the H in Hutton been silent; had
he not carried to the Mauretania a steam
er basket for his rich aunt; had he not
resented the fact that since Holworthy's
election to the Van Sturtevant Club he
had ceased to visit the Grill Club-a cure
for sleeping sickness might have been
discovered; but two loving hearts never
would have been reunited and that story
would not have been written.
Or Mrs Montclair, with a suit case, Is
leaving her home forever to join hand
some Harry Bellairs, who is at the cor
ner with a racing car and all the money
Of the bank of which he has been cashier.
AS the guilty woman places the farewell
letter against the pin-cushion where her
husband will be sure to find 1t, her infant
son turns in his sleep and jabs himself
with a pin. His howl Of anguish resem-
bles that Of a puppy on a moonlight
night. The mother recognizes her mas
ter's voice. She believes her child dying,
flies to the bedside, tears up the letter.
unpacks the suit case. The next morning
at breakfast her husband. reading the
newspaper. exclaims aloud:
Harry Bellairs," he cries, has skipped
with the banks money! l always told
you he was not a man you ought to
know
His manner to me-" she says severe
ly, always was that Of perfect gen
tleman."
Again coincidence gets the credit. Had
not the child tossed-had not at the crit
ical moment the safety pin proved un-
true to the man who invented it-that
happy family reunion would have been
impossible.
or, it might be told this way:
Old man McCurdy, the Pig-iron King,
forbids his daughter Gwendolyn even to
think Of marrying poor but honest Beef
Walters, the baseball pitcher, and denies
him his house. The lovers plan an elope-
ment At midnight Beef is to stand at
the tradesmen's entrance and whistle
Waiting at the Church," and down the
silent stairs Gwendolyn is to steal into
his arms At the very same hour the
butler has planned with the policeman on
fixed post to steal Mother McCurdys dia-
monds and pass them to brother Of the
policeman, who is to wait at the trades
mans entrance and whistle waiting Tor
the Robert z. Lee"
This sounds mprobable-especially that
the policeman would allow even his
brother to get the diamonds before he
did: but with the God of Coincidence on
the job. you shall see that it will all
come out right. Beef is first at the door.
He whistles. The butler-an English but
ler-with no ear for music, shoves into
his hands tfaras and sunbursts Honest
Of bau hT1tl n notice.
man and the tiaras to Mother McCurdy.
How can I reward you?" exclaims the
grateful woman.
Your daughters hand.'
Again the God of Coincidence scores,
and Beef Walters is credited with an as
sist And for preventing the robbery Nc
Curdy has the peg-post cop made a cap
tain; thus enabling him to wear dia-
monds of his own and raising him above
the need of taking them from others.
These examples of what the god can
do are mere fiction: the story that comes |
now really happened. 1t also is a story |
of coincidence. 1t shows how this time |
the long arm was stretched out to make !
two young people happy; it again illus |
trates that, in the instruments he
chooses, the God of Coincidence works |
in a mysterious way his wonders to per |
form. This time the tool he used was a |
hat OF green felt.
The story really should be called The |
Man in the Green Hat !
At St. James Palace the plenipoten- |
tiaries of the allies and of Turkey were |
trying to bring peace to Europe; in Rus |
sell Square, Bloomsbury, Sam Lowell |
was trying to arrange a peace with Mrs. |
wroxton, his landlady. The ultimatum |
of the allies was: "Adrianople or fight" |
The last words of Mrs. Wroxton were: |
Five pounds or move OUT"
Same did not have five pounds He was |
a stranger in London; he had lost his |
position in New York and that very
morning had refused to marry the girl |
he loVed-Polly Seward, the young woman !
the Sunday papers called The Richest |
Girl in America"
For any man-fOr one day-that would |
seem to be trouble enough; but to the !
Sultan of Turkey that day brought trou- /
bles far more serious. And. as his losses .
were Sans gain, we must follow the !
troubles Of the Sultan. Until, with the .
aid Of a green felt hat, the God of Coin
cidence turns the misfortunes of the sui
tan into a fortune for Sam, Sam must /
wait.
From the first days of the peace coz
ference il was evident there was a leak
The negotiations had been opened under
a most solemn oath of secrecy. As TO
the progress of the conference, only sCch
or misinformation-if the |
diplomats considered it better-as was
mutually agreed upon by the plenipoten-
tiaries was given to a waiting world. But
each morning, in addition TO the official
report of the proceedings OF the day pre-
\ ious, one newspaper, the Times, plb-
lishe6 an account which differed from
that in every other paper, and which un-
frnry Fha Fvef T. L. /