would give a great deal could he just sit there as
one of them for a brief hour.

At that moment the servant deferentially hand-
ed him a note which a messenger boy had brought.
It said :

"Dinner off called out town send clothes and things
after me to Young's Boston. VAN BIBBEK."

Walter rose involuntarily, and then sat still to
think about it. He would have to countermand
the dinner which he had ordered over half an hour
before, and he would have to explain who he was
to those other servants who had always regarded
him as such a great gentleman. It was very
hard.

And then Walters was tempted. He was a very
good servant, and he knew his place as only an
English servant can, and he had always accepted



41

it, but to-night he was tempted and he fell. He
met the waiter's anxious look with a grave smile.

" The other gentlemen will not be with me to-
night," he said, glancing at the note. " But I will
dine here as I intended. You can serve for one."

That was perhaps the proudest night in the
history of Walters. He had always felt that he
was born out of his proper sphere, and to-night
he was assured of it. He was a little nervous at
first, lest some of Van Bibber's friends should
come in and recognize him ; but as the dinner
progressed and the warm odor of the dishes
touched his sense, and the rich wines ran through
his veins, and the women around him smiled and
bent and moved like beautiful birds of beautiful
plumage, he became content, grandly content ;
and he half closed his eyes and imagined he was
giving a dinner to everybody in the place. Vain
and idle thoughts came to him and went again,
and he eyed the others about him calmly and with
polite courtesy, as they did him, and he felt that
if he must later pay for this moment it was worth
the paying.

Then he gave the waiter a couple of dollars out
of his own pocket and wrote Van Bibber's name
on the check, and walked in state into the cafe,
where he ordered a green mint and a heavy, black,
and expensive cigar, and seated himself at the
window, where he felt that he should always have
sat if the fates had been just. The smoke hung
in light clouds about him, and the lights shone and



42 VAN BIBBEK'S MAN-SERVANT

glistened on the white cloths and the broad shirt-
fronts of the smart young men and distinguished
foreign-looking older men at the surrounding ta-
bles.

And then, in the midst of his dreamings, he
heard the soft, careless drawl of his master, which
sounded at that time and in that place like the
awful voice of a condemning judge. Van Bibber
pulled out a chair and dropped into it. His side
was towards Walters, so that he did not see him.
He had some men with him, and he was explain-
ing how he had missed his train and had come
back to find that one of the party had eaten the
dinner without him, and he wondered who it could
be ; and then turning easily in his seat he saw
Walters with the green mint and the cigar, trem-
bling behind a copy of the London Graphic.

" Walters !" said Van Bibber, " what are you
doing here ?"

Walters looked his guilt and rose stiffly. He
began with a feeble " If you please, sir "

" Go back to my rooms and wait for me there,"
said Van Bibber, who was too decent a fellow to
scold a servant in public.

Walters rose and left the half-finished cigar
and the mint with the ice melting in it on the
table. His one evening of sublimity was over,
and he walked away, bending before the glance of
his young master and the smiles of his master's
friends.

When Van Bibber came back he found on his



VAN BIBBER'S MAN-SERVANT 43

dressing-table a note from Walters stating that
he could not, of course, expect to remain longer
in his service, and that he left behind him the
twenty-eight dollars which the dinner had cost.

"If he had only gone off with all my waistcoats
and scarf-pins, Pd have liked it better," said Van
Bibber, " than his leaving me cash for infernal
dinner. Why, a servant like Walters is worth
twenty-eight-dollar dinners twice a day."



THE HUNGRY MAN WAS FED



THE HTJNGKY MAN WAS FED



YOUNG Van Bibber broke one of his rules of
life one day and came down-town. This un-
usual journey into the marts of trade and finance
was in response to a call from his lawyer, who
wanted his signature to some papers. It was five
years since Van Bibber had been south of the
north side of Washington Square, except as a
transient traveller to the ferries on the elevated
road. And as he walked through the City Hall
Square he looked about him at the new buildings
in the air, and the bustle and confusion of the
streets, with as much interest as a lately arrived
immigrant.

He rather enjoyed the novelty of the situa-
tion, and after he had completed his business at
the lawyer's office he tried to stroll along lower
Broadway as he did on the Avenue.

But people bumped against him, and carts and
drays tried to run him down when he crossed the
side streets, and those young men whom he knew
seemed to be in a great hurry, and expressed such
amused surprise at seeing him that he felt very
much out of place indeed. And so he decided



48 THE HUNGRY MAN WAS FED

to get back to his club window and its quiet as
soon as possible.

"Hello, Van Bibber," said one of the young
men who were speeding by, " what brings you
here ? Have you lost your way ?"

" I think I have," said Van Bibber. " If you'll
kindly tell me how I can get back to civilization
again, be obliged to you."

" Take the elevated from Park Place," said his
friend from over his shoulder, as he nodded and
dived into the crowd.

The visitor from up-town had not a very distinct
idea as to where Park Place was, but he struck off
Broadway and followed the line of the elevated
road along Church Street. It was at the corner of
Vesey Street that a miserable-looking, dirty, and
red -eyed object stood still in his tracks and
begged Van Bibber for a few cents to buy food.
" I've come all the way from Chicago," said the
Object, "and I haven't tasted food for twenty-
four hours."

Van Bibber drew away as though the Object
had a contagious disease in his rags, and handed
him a quarter without waiting to receive the
man's blessing.

" Poor devil !" said Van Bibber. " Fancy going
without dinner all day!" He could not fancy this,
though he tried, and the impossibility of it im-
pressed him so much that he amiably determined
to go back and hunt up the Object and give him
more money. Van Bibber's ideas of a dinner



THE HUNGRY MAN WAS FED 49

were rather exalted. He did not know of places
where a quarter was good for a " square meal," in-
cluding " one roast, three vegetables, and pie." He
hardly considered a quarter a sufficiently large
tip for the waiter who served the dinner, and
decidedly not enough for the dinner itself. He
did not see his man at first, and when he did the
man did not see him. Van Bibber watched him
stop three gentlemen, two of whom gave him
some money, and then the Object approached Van
Bibber and repeated his sad tale in a monotone.
He evidently did not recognize Van Bibber, and
the clubman gave him a half-dollar and walked
away, feeling that the man must surely have
enough by this time with which to get something
to eat, if only a luncheon.

This retracing of his footsteps had confused
Van Bibber, and he made a complete circuit
of the block before he discovered that he had
lost his bearings. He was standing just where
he had started, and gazing along the line of
the elevated road, looking for a station, when
the familiar accents of the Object again saluted
him.

When Van Bibber faced him the beggar looked
uneasy. He was not sure whether or not he had
approached this particular gentleman before, but
Van Bibber conceived an idea of much subtlety,
and deceived the Object by again putting his
hand in his pocket.

" Nothing to eat for twenty-four hours ! Dear
4



50 THE HUNGRY MAN WAS FED

me !" drawled the clubman, sympathetically.
" Haven't you any money, either ?"

"Not a cent," groaned the Object, "an* I'm
just faint for food, sir. S'help me. I hate to
beg, sir. It isn't the money I want, it's jest food.
I'm starvin', sir."

"Well," said Van Bibber, suddenly, "if it is
just something to eat you want, come in here with
me and I'll give you your breakfast." But the
man held back and began to whine and complain
that they wouldn't let the likes of him in such a
fine place.

" Oh, yes, they will," said Van Bibber, glanc-
ing at the bill of fare in front of the place. " It
seems to be extremely cheap. Beefsteak fifteen
cents, for instance. Go in," he added, and there
was something in his tone which made the Object
move ungraciously into the eating-house.

It was a very queer place, Van Bibber thought,
and the people stared very hard at him and his
gloves and the gardenia in his coat and at the
tramp accompanying him.

"You ain't going to eat two breakfasts, are
yer ?" asked one of the very tough-looking waiters
of the Object. The Object looked uneasy, and
Van Bibber, who stood beside his chair, smiled
in triumph.

"You're mistaken," he said to the waiter.
" This gentleman is starving ; he has not tasted
food for twenty-four hours. Give him whatever
he asks for !"



TIIE HUNGRY MAN WAS FED 51

The Object scowled and the waiter grinned be-
hind his tin tray, and had the impudence to wink
at Van Bibber, who recovered from this in time to
give the man a half-dollar and so to make of him
a friend for life. The Object ordered milk, but
Van Bibber protested and ordered two beefsteaks
and fried potatoes, hot rolls and two omelettes,
coffee, and ham with bacon.

" Holy smoke ! watcher think I am ?" yelled
the Object, in desperation.

" Hungry," said Van Bibber, very gently. " Or
else an impostor. And, you know, if you should
happen to be the latter I should have to hand you
over to the police."

Van Bibber leaned easily against the wall and
read the signs about him, and kept one eye on a
policeman across the street. The Object was
choking and cursing through his breakfast. It
did not seem to agree with him. Whenever he
stopped Van Bibber would point with his stick
to a still unfinished dish, and the Object, after a
husky protest, would attack it as though it were
poison. The people sitting about were laughing,
and the proprietor behind the desk smiling grimly.

"There, darn ye!" said the Object at last.
"I've eat all I can eat for a year. You think
you're mighty smart, don't ye ? But if you
choose to pay that high for your fun, I s'pose you
can afford it. Only don't let me catch you
around these streets after dark, that's all."

And the Object started off, shaking his fist.



62 THE HUNGRY MAN WAS FED

"Wait a minute," said Van Bibber. "You
haven't paid them for your breakfast."

" Haven't what ?" shouted the Object. " Paid
'em ! How could I pay him ? Youse asked me
to come in here and eat. I didn't want no break-
fast, did I? Youse'll have to pay for your fun
yerself, or they'll throw yer out. Don't try to be
too smart."

" I gave you," said Van Bibber, slowly, " seven-
ty-five cents with which to buy a breakfast. This
check calls for eighty-five cents, and extremely
cheap it is," he added, with a bow to the fat pro-
prietor. " Several other gentlemen, on your rep-
resentation that you were starving, gave you other
sums to be expended on a breakfast. You have
the money with you now. So pay what you owe
at once, or I'll call that officer across the street
and tell him what I know, and have you put
where you belong."

" I'll see you blowed first !" gasped the Object.

Van Bibber turned to the waiter. "Kindly
beckon to that officer," said he.

The waiter ran to the door and the Object ran
too, but the tough waiter grabbed him by the
back of his neck and held him.

" Lemme go !" yelled the Object. " Lemme go
an' I'll pay you."

Everybody in the place came up now and
formed a circle around the group and watched the
Object count out eighty-five cents into the waiter's
hand, which left him just one dime to himself.



THE HUNGRY MAN WAS FED 53

"You have forgotten the waiter who served
you," said Van Bibber, severely pointing with
his stick at the dime.

"No, you don't," groaned the Object.

"Oh, yes," said Van Bibber, "do the decent
thing now, or I'll "

The Object dropped the dime in the waiter's
hand, and Van Bibber, smiling and easy, made
his way through the admiring crowd and out
into the street.

"I suspect," said Mr. Van Bibber later in the
day, when recounting his adventure to a fellow-
clubman, " that, after I left, fellow tried to get tip
back from waiter, for I saw him come out of
place very suddenly, you see, and without touch-
ing pavement till he lit on back of his head in
gutter. He was most remarkable waiter."



VAN BIBBER AT THE RACES



YAN BIBBER AT THE KACES



YOUNG Van Bibber had never spent a Fourth
of July in the city, as he had always under-
stood it was given over to armies of small
boys on that day, who sat on all the curbstones
arid set off fire-crackers, and that the thermometer
always showed ninety degrees in the shade, and
cannon boomed and bells rang from daybreak to
midnight. He had refused all invitations to join
any Fourth-of-July parties at the seashore or on
the Sound or at Tuxedo, because he expected his
people home from Europe, and had to be in New
York to meet them. He was accordingly greatly
annoyed when he received a telegram saying they
would sail in a boat a week later.

He finished his coffee at the club on the morn-
ing of the Fourth about ten o'clock, in absolute
solitude, and with no one to expect and nothing
to anticipate; so he asked for a morning paper
and looked up the amusements offered for the
Fourth. There were plenty of excursions with
brass bands, and refreshments served on board,
baseball matches by the hundred, athletic meet-



58 VAN BIBBEK AT THE KACES

ings and picnics by the dozen, but nothing that
seemed to exactly please him.

The races sounded attractive, but then he al-
ways lost such a lot of money, and the crowd
pushed so, and the sun and the excitement made
his head ache between the eyes and spoiled his
appetite for dinner. He had vowed again and
again that he would not go to the races ; but as
the day wore on and the solitude of the club
became oppressive and the silence of the Avenue
began to tell on him, he changed his mind, and
made his preparations accordingly.

First, he sent out after all the morning papers
and read their tips on the probable winners.
Very few of them agreed, so he took the horse
which most of them seemed to think was best, and
determined to back it, no matter what might hap-
pen or what new tips he might get later. Then
he put two hundred dollars in his pocket-book to
bet with, and twenty dollars for expenses, and
sent around for his field-glasses.

He was rather late in starting, and he made up
his mind on the way to Morris Park that he would
be true to the list of winners he had written out,
and not make any side bets on any suggestions or
inside information given him by others. He
vowed a solemn vow on the rail of the boat to
plunge on each of the six horses he had selected
from the newspaper tips, and on no others. He
hoped in this way to win something. He did not
care so much to win, but he hated to lose. He



VAN BIBBER AT THE RACES 59

always felt so flat and silly after it was over ; and
when it happened, as it often did, that he had paid
several hundred dollars for the afternoon's sport,
his sentiments did him credit.

"I shall probably, or rather certainly, be
tramped on and shoved," soliloquized Van Bibber.

"I shall smoke more cigars than are good for
me, and drink more than I want, owing to the
unnatural excitement and heat, and I shall be late
for my dinner. And for all this I shall probably
pay two hundred dollars. It really seems as if I
were a young man of little intellect, and yet thou-
sands of others are going to do exactly the same
thing."

The train was very late. One of the men in
front said they would probably just be able to
get their money up in time for the first race. A
horse named Firefly was Van Bibber's choice, and
he took one hundred dollars of his two hundred to
put up on her. He had it already in his hand when
the train reached the track, and he hurried with
the rest towards the bookmakers to get his one
hundred on as quickly as possible. But while he
was crossing the lawn back of the stand, he heard
cheers and wild yells that told him they were
running the race at that moment.

"Raceland!" "Raceland!" "Raceland by a
length !" shouted the crowd.

" Who's second?" a fat man shouted at another
fat man.

"Firefly," called back the second, joyously,



60 VAN BIBBER AT THE RACES

"and I've got her for a place and I win eight
dollars."

" Ah !" said Van Bibber, as he slipped his one
hundred dollars back in his pocket, " good thing
I got here a bit late."

" What'd you win, Van Bibber?" asked a friend
who rushed past him, clutching his tickets as
though they were precious stones.

" I win one hundred dollars," answered Van
Bibber, calmly, as he walked on up into the boxes.
It was delightfully cool up there, and to his satis-
faction and surprise he found several people there
whom he knew. He went into Her box and ac-
cepted some pate sandwiches and iced champagne,
and chatted and laughed with Her so industriously,
and so much to the exclusion of all else, that the
horses were at the starting-post before he was
aware of it, and he had to excuse himself hurriedly
and run to put up his money on Bugler, the sec-
ond on his list. He decided that as he had won
one hundred dollars on the first race he could af-
ford to plunge on this one, so he counted out fifty
more, and putting this with the original one hun-
dred dollars, crowded into the betting-ring and
said, " A hundred and fifty on Bugler straight."

" Buglers just been scratched," said the bookie,
leaning over Van Bibber's shoulder for a greasy
five-dollar bill.

" Will you play anything else ?" he asked, as
the young gentleman stood there irresolute.

" No, thank you," said Van Bibber, remember-



VAN BIBBER AT THE RACES 61

ing his vow, and turning hastily away. " Well/'
he mused, " I'm one hundred and fifty dollars bet-
ter off than I might have been if Bugler hadn't
been scratched and hadn't won. One hundred
and fifty dollars added to one hundred makes
two hundred and fifty dollars. That puts me
'way ahead of the game. I am fifty dollars better
off than when I left New York. I'm playing
in great luck." So, on the strength of this, he
bought out the man who sells bouquets, and
ordered more champagne to be sent up to the box
where She was sitting, and they all congratulated
him on his winnings, which were suggested by
his generous and sudden expenditures.

" You must have a great eye for picking a win-
ner," said one of the older men, grudgingly.

" Y-e-s," said Van Bibber, modestly. " I know
a horse when I see it, I think ; and," he added
to himself, " that's about all."

His horse for the third race was Rover, and the
odds were five to one against him. Van Bibber
wanted very much to bet on Pirate King instead,
but he remembered his vow to keep to the list he
had originally prepared, whether he lost or won.
This running after strange gods was always a
losing business. He took one hundred dollars in
five-dollar bills, and went down to the ring and put
the hundred up on Rover and returned to the box.
The horses had been weighed in and the bugle
had sounded, and three of the racers were making
their way up the track, when one of them plunged



62 VAN BIBBER AT THE EACES

suddenly forward and went down on his knees
and then stretched out dead. Van Bibber was
confident it was Rover, although he had no idea
which the horse was, but he knew his horse would
not run. There was a great deal of excitement,
and people who did not know the rule, which re-
quires the return of all money if any accident
happens to a horse on the race-track between the
time of weighing in and arriving at the post, were
needlessly alarmed. Van Bibber walked down to
the ring and received his money back with a smile.

" I'm just one hundred dollars better off than
I was three minutes ago," he said. "I've really
had a most remarkable day."

Mayfair was his choice for the fourth race, and
she was selling at three to one. Van Bibber de-
termined to put one hundred and seventy-five dol-
lars up on her, for, as he said, he had not lost on
any one race yet. The girl in the box was very
interesting, though, and Van Bibber found a great
deal to say to her. He interrupted himself once
to call to one of the messenger-boys who ran with
bets, and gave him one hundred and seventy-five
dollars to put on Mayfair.

Several other gentlemen gave the boy large
sums as well, and Van Bibber continued to talk
earnestly with the girl. He raised his head to
see Mayfair straggle in a bad second, and shrugged
his shoulders. " How much did you lose ?" she
asked.

" Oh, 'bout two hundred dollars," said Van Bib-



VAN BIBBER AT THE RACES 63

her ; " but it's the first time I've lost to-day, so
I'm still ahead." He bent over to continue what
he was saying, when a rude commotion and loud
talking caused those in the boxes to raise their
heads and look around. Several gentlemen were
pointing out Van Bibber to one of the Pinkerton
detectives, who had a struggling messenger-boy
in his grasp.

" These gentlemen say you gave this boy some
money, sir," said the detective. " He tried to do
a welsh with it, and I caught him just as he was
getting over the fence. How much and on what
horse, sir?"

Van Bibber showed his memoranda, and the
officer handed him over one hundred and seventy-
five dollars.

" Now, let me see," said Van Bibber, shutting
one eye and calculating intently, " one hundred
and seventy-five to three hundred and fifty dollars
makes me a winner by five hundred and twenty-
five dollars. That's purty good, isn't it? I'll
have a great dinner at Delmonico's to-night.
You'd better all come back with me !"

But She said he had much better come back
with her and her party on top of the coach and
take dinner in the cool country instead of the hot,
close city, and Van Bibber said he would like to,
only he did wish to get his one hundred dollars
up on at least one race. But they said "no,"
they must be off at once, for the ride was a long
one, and Van Bibber looked at his list and saw



64 VAN BIBBER AT THE RACES

that his choice was Jack Frost, a very likely win-
ner, indeed ; but, nevertheless, he walked out to
the enclosure with them and mounted the coach
beside the girl on the back seat, with only the
two coachmen behind to hear what he chose to
say.

And just as they finally were all harnessed up
and the horn sounded, the crowd yelled, " They're
off," and Van Bibber and all of them turned on
their high seats to look back.

" Magpie wins," said the whip.

"And Jack Frost's last," said another.

"And I win my one hundred dollars," said Van
Bibber. "It's really very curious," he added,
turning to the girl. "I started out with two
hundred dollars to-day, I spent only twenty-five
dollars on flowers, I won six hundred and twenty-
five dollars, and I have only one hundred and
seventy-five dollars to show for it, and yet I've
had a very pleasant Fourth."



AN EXPERIMENT IN ECONOMY



AN EXPEKIMENT IN ECONOMY



OF course, Van Bibber lost all the money he
saved at the races on the Fourth of July.
He went to the track the next day, and he saw
the whole sum melt away, and in his vexation
tried to "get back," with the usual result. He
plunged desperately, and when he had reached
his rooms and run over his losses, he found he was
a financial wreck, and that he, as his sporting
friends expressed it, " would have to smoke a
pipe" for several years to come, instead of in-
dulging in Regalias. He could not conceive how
he had come to make such a fool of himself, and
he wondered if he would have enough confidence
to spend a dollar on luxuries again.

It was awful to contemplate the amount he had
lost. He felt as if it were sinful extravagance to
even pay his car-fare up-town, and he contemplat-
ed giving his landlord the rent with keen distress.
It almost hurt him to part with five cents to the
conductor, and as he looked at the hansoms dash-
ing by with lucky winners inside he groaned aud-
ibly.

"I've got to economize," he soliloquized. "No



68 AN EXPERIMENT IN ECONOMY

use talking ; must economize. I'll begin to-mor-
row morning and keep it up for a month. Then