alike, which was one of the most extraordinary and amazing
coincidences, you will admit, in the history of chirography.

But the scheme failed--failed utterly. I don't know why. The letters
went out and were copied broadcast and recopied, till you could see
the Mariposa endless chain winding its way towards the Rocky
Mountains. But they never got the ten cents. The Willing Workers
wrote for it in thousands, but by some odd chance they never struck
the person who had it.

Then after that there came a regular winter of effort. First of all
they had a bazaar that was got up by the Girls' Auxiliary and held in
the basement of the church. All the girls wore special costumes that
were brought up from the city, and they had booths, where there was
every imaginable thing for sale--pincushion covers, and chair covers,
and sofa covers, everything that you can think of. If the people had
once started buying them, the debt would have been lifted in no time.
Even as it was the bazaar only lost twenty dollars.

After that, I think, was the magic lantern lecture that Dean Drone
gave on "Italy and her Invaders." They got the lantern and the slides
up from the city, and it was simply splendid. Some of the slides were
perhaps a little confusing, but it was all there,--the pictures of
the dense Italian jungle and the crocodiles and the naked invaders
with their invading clubs. It was a pity that it was such a bad
night, snowing hard, and a curling match on, or they would have made
a lot of money out of the lecture. As it was the loss, apart from the
breaking of the lantern, which was unavoidable, was quite trifling.