DELMORE SCHWARTZ
517
more chance, a drop in the ocean . He slouched back.in hi s sea t,
chiding himself for hi s grea t excitement.
.
Meanwhil e the pointer was turning qui ckl y, and then
wea kl y.
"Twenty- five!" the mas ter of ceremonies call ed out.
Twenty- fi ve! Twenty-fi ve! said Corneliu s to himself, and
th en , findin g the number on hi s card as the fifth con secuti ve
horizonta l number, h e rose in hi s sea t and shouted :
"Screenol" in a too lo ud vo ice whi ch broke, and began to
issue from hi s a isle, tripping over the fee t of the peopl e sea ted
near him, some of whom were soli citous of his wa lk , and eager
LO
p rov ide good advi ce as he passed. T h e a ttrac ti veness of th e
winn er shone in him.
Twenty-fi ve! Twenty-fi ve! said Cornelius to himself.
My age! My gold mine! He felt the eyes of the whol e immen se
audi ence upon him as he wa lked to the stage and th e self–
conscio usness whi ch had a lways tortured him made him wa lk
with too-ca reful step s.
An u sher took hi s ca rd , and ch ecked it with th e numbers on
th e bl ackboard . The young man came over to oversee the usher.
It seemed , to look a t the young man , as if something was wrong,
someon e had mi sca lcula ted. The ch ecking was done severa l
times. Very bureaucra ti c, sa id Co rnelius
to
himself. Recoverin g,
as th e ch eck-up proved tha t Co rn elius h ad indeed won, he shook
Corn eliu s's hand and the whol e thea ter lighted up.
" Lucky fellow," cried th e ba lcony voice, amu sing the
audi ence aga in , by the enviou s tone in hi s vo ice.
"Cong ra tul a tions," the young man sa id, " the sum of $425 is
yours." H e led Cornelius before the mi crophon e. Now before I
pay you , will you tell u s your n ame and address."
"Corn elius Schmidt," whi spered Co rneliu s (th e whi sper,
but no t the word s resounded in the mi crophone). "845 Wes t
163rd Stree t. "
T he young man repeated thi s informa tion into the mi cro–
phone as if it were a ma tter of grea t impo rtance.
"Cornelius Vanderbilt," shouted the ba lcony wit, " Park
Avenue."
"And wha t do you do?" the young man asked bo th Co rn el-
