Members are asked to bear in mind that we cannot send proof of the prize story promptly, as several of you ask us to do, since the Story Competition does not close till near the end of December. It is the first prize story of that contest that is to be illustrated. We have about fifty requests for the proof, so the contest is to be a spirited one. With the proof, to be sent to contestants early in January, there will be mailed hints about size, etc. The sum of $10 is offered for the best illustration. Contestants select their own subject. Those who wish to try for the prize should ask for proof. If, after you receive the proof, you think you cannot successfully compete, you merely throw the proof in the waste basket. Better try in the contest. You risk nothing.
By-the-way, do you remember the spirited illustrations of Mrs. Roosevelt's Heroes of America published last summer? They were the professional work of Mr. F. C. Yohn, who, as an aspiring young man, and then living in Indianapolis, tried in one of our pen-drawing contests, winning a first prize.
How Did the Gypsy Know?
Years ago an old gypsy called on my grandmother and wanted to tell her fortune. My grandmother didn't believe the gypsy's power to tell of future events. But the gypsy persisted. Finally, grandmother declared she had no money with which to pay her. "Yes," said the old gypsy, "you have five dollars hid in that old clock."
Well, my grandmother consented at this exhibition of the gypsy's supernatural powers. And then the gypsy told her, among other things, that she would have great trouble, leave Georgia, and go away down South, and be left a widow, and then years after go back to Georgia. Now, the strange part about this is that the gypsy's prophecy was literally true. My grandmother, sure enough, went away down on the Gulf coast, and her husband died soon after of paralysis, and now, seven years after he died, she is on her way back to Georgia. How did the gypsy know?
Harry R. Whitcomb.
Umatilla, Fla.
Prices of the Order's Badges.
The new badges are an exact reproduction of the rose, in the centre of which is claimed to be the original "round table" of King Arthur. You will find a picture of the top of this table on the back of the 1896 Prospectus, and the centre of it at the bottom of the Patent. The prices of the badges are: Pansy leaves or the rose, in silver, 10 cents—that is, 8 cents for the badge and 2 cents for postage; of the rose, in gold, 85 cents, with nothing added for postage. All are in the form of stick pins. Members are not required to purchase badges. We offer the silver rose as payment for giving to your friends, whom you are sure will appreciate them, fifteen Round Table circulars. The offer is open to all members.