Then my father was called and he wrote '1853.'
That's all there was to the dream. But take it from me I know what
it means. Now just add 'em together, and multiply by five--because
I could see five people in the court-room--divide by two--father
and mother--and I get--," he drew out a crumpled "arrest" form
covered with penciled figures, "--9280. And there--" his voice
dropped low, "--is your winning number for next Sunday."
So certain was this, that First-Class X----had bribed another
policeman to take his eight-hour shift, dressed in his vacation
best, bought a ticket to Panama and return, with real money at
tourist prices, and would spend the blazing afternoon seeking
among the scores of vendors in the city for lottery ticket 9280.
And if he did not find it there he certainly paid his fare all the
way to Colon and back to continue his search. I believe he at
length found and acquired the whole ticket, for the customary sum
of $2.50. But there must have been a slip in the arithmetic, or
mother's chalk; for the winning number that Sunday was 8895.
Frequent as are these melancholy errors, scores of "Zoners" cling
faithfully to their arithmetical superstitions. Many a man spends
his recreation hours working out the winning numbers by some
secret recipe of his own. There are men on the Z.
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