I then stated that the instrument was worth eight hundred dollars, and the best way to determine its destination was to raffle it off at one dollar per chance. I would have eight hundred tickets printed, and the W. C. O. was to have twenty per cent. of the proceeds for managing the affair. As a still greater inducement for the ladies to assist in the scheme for getting the piano before the country, we intended to give a twenty-dollar gold piece to the lady who sold the greatest number of tickets, and ten dollars for the next. I knew the scheme could not fail. The ladies took hold and worked like beavers, attending to the sale of the tickets, and likewise to the drawing. On my side I saw that an advertisement like this appeared in the regular reading matter of the local papers: “The finest piano in the world. “Tirbyville enjoys the reputation of having the finest amateur musical talent of any town in the state, and Beatem Bros. of New York have the reputation of making the best pianos in the United States. “A representative of this firm is now in our city with one of their samples. In order to introduce their goods he will give away one of their superb instruments. “It will be raffled off under the auspices of the Woman’s Charity Organization, the tickets selling for the nominal sum of one dollar. “The piano is a gem, costing eight hundred dollars direct from the factory. It is now on exhibition at Kirby Bros.’ music store, where the musically inclined public is invited to call. Professor S. James Weldon will be there at all hours, ready to explain the merits of the piano, and our citizens will do well to call. The worthy charity organization reaps the benefit of the drawing, and we trust our citizens will liberally subscribe.” It took about six weeks to work up this scheme, but it paid well. After deducting the twenty per cent. commission, prize money and personal expenses, I went away with about one hundred dollars profit for my employer, who at once sent me to another place to work the racket over again on the same lines. I succeeded in exhausting his stock of Beatem pianos in this way, largely to his profit, and fairly to my own. When there were no more pianos he tried me on organs, and I remained with him quite a while. Sometimes I disposed of the organs by the lottery scheme, and sometimes canvassed through the country to sell them outright. Either way I made money out of the proposition. I remember that I once called on a farmer who, I knew, was a close buyer. He had two buxom daughters, who, besides feeding the chickens, milking the cows, and churning the butter, found time to play “Home, Sweet Home,” on the organ. They had none of their own, and wanted one awfully bad. I exerted myself to the fullest to make the sale, but did not—until I was almost ready to throw up my hands. As a last resort I succeeded by a bit of trickery. I took out a piece of paper and began figuring on it, remarking: