I wondered who would be crass enough to snatch 26,500. It is a cursed number, which is why I did not do it. There were exactly 26,500 deaths from the Sweating Disease in 1154. There were 26,500 soldiers killed at the Battle of Theistis. 26,500 peasants were burned in the Rape of Thuringa by Merle of Gant. Jesse and Frank James took exactly US $26,500 when they held up the bank in West, Iowa. On his 26,500th time at the wicket Babe Ruth failed to hit. Anyone who gets 26,500 will be cursed for all eternity and then some, said Mag, the Witch of the North-North-East Country.

26,501, on the other hand, is a wonderful, lucky, fantastic number which presages nothing but good luck for the holder.