The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1898-03-30

4 Disputed Question Settled by the Chance
Apnearauce In the Crowd.

4 Disputed Question Settled by the Chance
Appearance In the Crowd.
Was il a statue or a woman2 4 large
crowd had gathered in front of the show
window Of a popular Broadway shoe
store and stood gazing curiously III at
the figure, which remained so imno5lie
that it might be marble and yet so beau
tiful that it must be woman. There
was not movement Of muscle, culver
of the eyelid or motion of the lips. Men
smiled, waved their hands, waved their
handkerchiefs, but there was no re-
sponse. Surely it was statue.
Looks like it's made of wax" said
one in the crowd.
Paste" said another.
"Come of It's woman," laughed
q big fat fellow.
"And the golden hair is banging
down her back" was the response from
a would be wit.
"Naw; it's mud!'' said little news
boy who had failed to sell any papers in
the crowd and who was turning away
in disgust.
81 tell you it's woman, repeated
the fat man. Then ne went away. Faces
we're pressed against the zane. They
shifted. Others took their places. and
still that same stony stare, the same mo-
tionless body and immobile face. Surely
nc human being could remain SO still
without even the batting Of an eyelid.
It was evident to many of the crowd
that heart could not beat IN the breast
which showed no signs Of respiration
no matter how closely observed.
Suddenly the statue moved. Like
Pygmalion's marble bust, glance had
awakened it to life Cheeks that were
marble became alabaster, then red.
Eyes that were dull and expressionless
proclaimed a soul. They flashed Ere,
resentment, anger. It was afterward re.
called by some III the crowe that there
was a gleam of tenderness mingled IL
TIE look. Evidently it was a woman,
and her whole womanly nature had teen
aroused by glance, one glance from
hundreds that scrutinized her every
day. Yet that one look was sufficient to
change immobility into motion and
marble into flesh.
Gut in the crowd on the sidewalk an
other peculiar scene was taking place.
The man whose chance arrival IN the
group of curious had awakened the
statue lay limp in the arms OF by
stander, who had caught him as he fell.
The crowd divided its attention be-
tween the man who was so pale and
motionless and the woman III the win
dow. It seemed as if the man had ex-
changed parts and become a statue,
while his vital spark had entered the
figure in the window and endowed it
with life.
The man had merely tainted. He soon
revived under the cool influences CT the
atmosphere. He looked in the window,
but the statue was gone. The woman
had disappeared behind the curtains and
sought retirepent i'll the recesses OF the
store. 1t was apparent that there was
some tragic connection between the man
and the statue who was posing as an
advertisement for the shoe firm. What
was it? The man was uncommunica-
tive. When he had gained control OF
himself, he went away.
The woman who played the statue
and the man who tainted in the street
at sight of her were once loving man
and wife. Her name is Madeline Re-
ahalJ op5 she resides in South ST
Louis. To her employers she tells
pitifuI story of welded life, desertion
and suffering. Accustomed to plenty all
her life, she was unable to enter any
vocation when thrown upon her own
resources. She accepted the place offered
by the firm to pose as an advertisement.
st. Louis Republic.