do not belong to any paid department, but to a volunteer Hook and
Ladder Company, composed of the active-bodied or active-minded male
citizens of the country town where I live. I am included in the
active-minded portion of the company; and in an organization like ours,
which is not only intended to assist in putting out the fires of burning
buildings, but to light the torch of the mind, this sort of member is
very valuable. In the building which we occupy, our truck, with its
hooks and ladders, stands upon the lower floor, while the large room
above is used as a club and reading-room. At the beginning of the first
winter of our occupancy of the building, we found that this room, which
had been very pleasant in summer, was extremely uncomfortable in winter.
The long apartment had been originally intended for purposes of storage;
and although we had ornamented it and fitted it up very neatly, a good
deal of carpentry and some mason's work was necessary before it could be
made tight and draught-proof for cold weather. But lately we had spent
money very freely, and our treasury was absolutely empty. I was chairman
of the committee which had charge of everything pertaining to our rooms,
and I felt the responsibilities of my position. The necessary work
should be begun immediately, but how could the money be raised to pay
for it? Subscriptions for this and that had been made until the members
were tired of that sort of thing; and the ill success of the last one
showed that it would not do to try it again.

I revolved in my mind a great many plans for raising the sum required,
and one morning, as I was going to my place of business in the city, I
was seized with a happy idea. At the moment of seizure I was standing in
front of a large show-window, in which were a number of oil paintings,
all of them very fresh and bright. "How would it do," thought I to
myself, "to buy a picture at a moderate price and put it up at a
raffle? People who are not willing to give money outright will often
enter into a scheme of this kind. I will go in and make inquiries."

When I entered I found myself in a large showroom, the walls of which
were covered with paintings. A person advanced to meet me who, as it
soon became evident, was the proprietor of the place. He was a large
man, dressed in black, with an open shirt-front and an expansive
countenance. His eyes and hair were black, and his ears stood out from
his head in a manner which, according