The herald., 1896-02-19

| the sbayen face and mobile lips Of an
actor Immediately said: "Great Scott,
know that breed! What's he doing away
down here:
The strains OF Il march came plainly.
The haze grew brighter and varied its
color. In the background could be seen
| the form of one of the floats, but in the
| incoherent shadows it resemblcd Il
striding giant a row of negro babies
| i'm their cagcrness peered out too far
and toppled from the curb. The gutter
contained about two inches of water.
| The solitary mounted policeman who
| formed the extreme advance guard was
raily assaulted by an Indian chief, a
pirate. and some apes. His horse reared
and plunged and he wrenched his arm
free of them. He rode on laughing
good naturedly. After him came 9TH
ers. insistcnt and perfectly serious in
their business of clearing the street but
apparently always good natured and
civil.
| After the police. the procession slowly
came through between the two black
lines of people. From the high stands
it resemblcd long monster of golden
fire upon which cleaned frequently
dazzling spots of purple and green. The
gliitcrng floats creaked slowly over the
stones and the shining and enormous
emblemS in wood and paper and cloth.
gently vibrated with Il persistent and
endless motion. The luminous figures
upon them hung on with one hand while
they waved the other gaily ut the
crowd.
The floats looked in the distance like
vast confections. Some were OF hnc
cool green like spring water seen in
The sunlight. while others We're of the
hue of violets. These soft colors I'M
parted to the great moving masses a
fairy-like quality as if Il wind might
blow them. light and unresisting. high
into the sky. In long lines at either
side marched negroes i'll bIOOd-red
gnome cloaks and bearing torches with
refiectors which shed strong and con-
| tinual orange glare upon the floats.
And dragging slowly at the traces, the
mules too were hidden in red cloaks, al
| though occasionally Il thoughtful and
| Indifferent couutenancc appeared. and
upon it an expression of deep and far
away reflection. Girls leaned over bal
comics and shouted: "Ah. there's Comus.
| There he is! Comus, Comus, look this
way"'
| This nights prince. high in air and
crowned. gestured and bowed amiably
at the cheers. One found ones self star
| ing at the mask and wondering. not of
| the features. but of the emotion, and
feeling exaSperated at the battling COW
! cr.
| Further down the gorgeous line the
| float Of the great god Pan started from
| Il halt with a sudden jerk and almost
lprecipitated him from his high estate.
! A maskcr in red and green expressed
| in pantolnine from his perch on Il float
his great anxiety TO present certain
| box tied with ribbons to some young
men in the street. The young men yell
ed: Yes! Go ahead, Letter come" The
masker threw the box swiftly: the as
| tonished young men lodged. But the
lnasker had a string to it and it returned
TO his hand. A derisive howl came
from the crowd. AS the float moved on.
the masker gestured mockingly. 1T
seemed wonderful in some way that
throughout this incident that mask
should remain imperturable, unchanged,
with the same expression of eXtraOrdi-
nary ferocity with which it had been
created.
| Vivid fires of red, yellow, purple,
| white, sputtered forth their luminous
smoke. Bands clashed interminably.
And because of the glare Of light the
faces of the crowd became pallid and in
the immoblity of expression, death like.
save for the eyes which glinted with
delight
In the balconies near the king and
queen, ladies leaned forward intently.
Upon the floats. the glittering maskers
turned at once toward this array of 81
lent, deeply observant women. The dis
play here found itself out displayed.
And the occasional, the temporary roy
alties gazed at the eternal royalty Of
beautiful women. Occasionally from
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