dhood and that we
acknowledge exists; that is neither a person nor a beast, neither a
thing nor an object, but something that no man can kill, though it is
dead to-day; that all men need and most New-Yorkers neglect; that should
be present everywhere and is found in no trade? The answer is a word of
five letters and begins with A--the first letter of the alphabet, the
first of the five vowels. There is another word, a synonym, which is now
obsolescent, though it is at times used in poetry. But while either word
will win the ten thousand dollars in cash now in the custody of the
Mayor of New York, the word I particularly have in mind has five
letters, of which the first is appropriately A, the Alpha of the Greeks,
the Aleph of the Hebrews, and now the first of all the alphabets of
European languages. It is logically the first letter because it is the
first sound that man naturally makes--'A' or 'Ah!' The first letter!
What is the word of five letters beginning with A that will give you ten
thousand dollars? With 'A'! _Now!_"

Stop-watch in hand, H. R. began to move his left arm up and down like a
referee at a prize-fight. He had astutely emphasized the fact that the
word had five letters, of which the first was A. The mind of the
coupon-holder was thus made to study the dictionary instead of thinking
about the question itself.

It was inevitable as fate itself. The first man could not guess. Neither
could the second nor any of the thousands. But before the applicant's
indignation at the unfairness of the question and the shortness of the
time could grow into fury H. R. exclaimed, "Time's up." Approaching the
non-guesser, he whispered: "The name of the unsuccessful will _not_ be
given to the newspapers. Not by _us_! I thank you in the name of the
poor starving people whose lives you have prolonged. That way to the
seats. You can have your pick of the very best!"

In that simple way was bloodshed and the cry of fraud averted at one and
the same time.

H. R. then delegated the task of propounding the aureate question to a
dozen lieutenants. Without varying one word the lieutenants asked the
men whose charity would feed the starving.

Not one won the ten thousand dollars.

One of the reporters with the air of a man whose life depends upon the
bulletin-board asked H. R.:

"What's the answer?"

The others heard H. R. reply:

"Ten thousand dollars in cash!"

"Yes; but the word?"

"It is worth ten thousand of my d