A Sportsman 223 



warrior who sought the bubble reputation at the can- 

 non's mouth. But Jane had no thought of dying, 

 and I am quite sure she would not have expired to gain 

 a hundred Egyptian pyramids. 



A fair was to be held for charitable purposes in 

 Music Hall a few evenings afterwards, aild I had taken 

 two tickets, and Mother Dare consented that I should 

 take Jane there. I did, and Jane became elastic in 

 spirit and rigged out in her best suit for the occasion. 

 She was a lovely, charming girl, and no one could re- 

 gard her costume in the glow of her beauty. When 

 we entered the hall she was wild with delight and ex- 

 citement at the brilliant costumes. "Oh, introduce 

 me to some rich man," she said. "I must marry and 

 travel to Rome and Paris and London. I have no 

 time to lose. I must go." Jane was not particularly 

 retiring or shy in disposition. 



I saw approaching in the promenade an elderly, 

 bald-headed, but well-wigged, confirmed and well-pre- 

 served old bachelor, whom we will call Ashberry, whom 

 I knew, and who had lately retired from business with 

 a large fortune after a wasted life at business, during 

 which I doubt if he ever caught a trout. I mentioned 

 the situation to Jane, who requested an introduction, 

 and I accordingly presented Mr. Ashberry to her. Jane 

 was a gusher of full volume, and the somewhat bewil- 

 dered Ashberry, upon his quitting, asked Miss Dare if 

 she would accept a lottery ticket he had just purchased 

 in a probable two-hundred-dollar grand piano, put up 

 at six hundred six hundred tickets at one dollar each ; 

 would Miss Dare kindly accept the ticket ? Would she ! 

 I had no doubt about it, and she did with a subdued, 

 inexpressible gush which made Ashberry totter, and I 



