other on their meagre income.
They determined to have but one goal: to put their mother back to that
life of comfort to which she had been brought up and was formerly
accustomed. But that was not possible on their income. It was evident
that other employment must be taken on during the evenings.

The city editor of the _Brooklyn Eagle_ had given Edward the assignment
of covering the news of the theatres; he was to ascertain "coming
attractions" and any other dramatic items of news interest. One Monday
evening, when a multiplicity of events crowded the reportorial corps,
Edward was delegated to "cover" the Grand Opera House, where Rose
Coghlan was to appear in a play that had already been seen in Brooklyn,
and called, therefore, for no special dramatic criticism. Yet _The
Eagle_ wanted to cover it. It so happened that Edward had made another
appointment for that evening which he considered more important, and
yet not wishing to disappoint his editor he accepted the assignment.
He had seen Miss Coghlan in the play; so he kept his other engagement,
and without approaching the theatre he wrote a notice to the effect
that Miss Coghlan acted her part, if anything, with greater power than
on her previous Brooklyn visit, and so forth, and handed it in to his
city editor the next morning on his way to business.

Unfortunately, however, Miss Coghlan had been taken ill just before the
raising of the curtain, and, there being no understudy, no performance
had been given and the audience dismissed. All this was duly commented
upon by the New York morning newspapers. Edward read this bit of news
on the ferry-boat, but his notice was in the hands of the city editor.

On reaching home that evening he found a summons from _The Eagle_, and
the next morning he received a rebuke, and was informed that his
chances with the paper were over. The ready acknowledgment and evident
regret of the crestfallen boy, however, appealed to the editor, and
before the end of the week he called the boy to him and promised him
another chance, provided the lesson had sunk in. It had, and it left a
lasting impression. It was always a cause of profound gratitude with
Edward Bok that his first attempt at "faking" occurred so early in his
journalistic career that he could take the experience to heart and
profit by it.

One evening when Edward was attending a theatrical performance, he
noticed the restlessness of the women in the audience between the