Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-01-18
ROMANCE OF A
M|DSH|PMAN
Won a Wife by Posing as a
Hero Done In Wax.

of Austin HalStead after dinner, Wnen
the wives Of the two men had retired
to the drawing room and cigars were
brought to the dining table. smile
passed over Halstead's face.
That's funny storyt' be said.
II hadn't been out of the Naval
academy q year and was as full Of
nonsense as the day left Annapolis.
Our ship was ordered to the Brooklyn
navy yard for refitting. and. having a
good deal Of time on my hands. ]
spent 1t in New York. found the
Eden Musee a good place to get away
with an afternoon and spent not only
one but several there. One day.
was In uniform at the time. having
been ordered on some official duty in
New York connected with the ship-l
strolled into the show Of wax figures
along with one Of our fellows, Tom
Anderson. Tom was on leave and In
mutt. We went through the place
and sat on wooden settee to rest
and watch the people. A friend Of
Toms went by, and Tom left me
temporarily to 60 to speak to him.
II noticed that several persons look
ed at me scrutinizingly. suspecting
that since I was in uniform I might
be a wax figure Of some great naval
hero, but as soon as they perceived
that WIS merely real live MILDLY
thc,' lost iltel est in me and passed on.
Pre- .mly saw coming a young girl
OF sixteen, whose dresses had not
been let down to the length for wo-
men, in the care Of a French maid.
She was one Of the piquant kind. full
of animation. This was evidently her
first visit to the show, and she was
intensely interested in everything she
saw. She gave me an inquirlng glance,
then asked her maid in French wheth-
er was flesh and blood or wax. Not
getting a satisfactory reply. she came
nearer and fixed her sparkling black
eyes upon me.
"Of course It was mean thing to DO,
but what can you expect from young
ster who has also the disadvantage OF
being a sailor ashore? looked straight
before me. Tom Anderson was stand
ing at little distance, talking with
his friend, and saw the girl trying to
make me out. He smiled and called his
friends attention to the pantomime.
Tom had as much deviltry in him as
and was equally culpable. Tipping the
wink to his companions, he led the way
toward me.
"'Did you ever see Admiral Farra-
gut as a young man.? he said, loud
enough to be heard by the girl. Here
he is Just as he was at twenty-one.'
"The two stood before me while !
stared at vacancy. The girl drew near
to hear all about the great admiral.
"'This waxwork,' Tom continued.
was made after photographs taken at
the time.
"'No one would suppose said Tom.
that the great naval hero could have
been such a miserable looking speci-
men Of humanity in his early days.
such proboscis?'
az think he was very handsome
said the girl to her maid Indignantly.
"'Then his hands-big enough for
No. 10 glove. And his feet they'd
cover the quarter deck Of line of bat
tie ship
1.-THE girl tossed her head and turned
her back on the speaker. How ever
retained my gravity l don't know. l
remember that l felt horror Of laugh
ing, for it would have revealed ter
rible slight upon the young girl. had
already had enough of the joke and
wished that Tom would 60 away and
the girl would pass on without know
ing how we had fooled her. When she
looked away for moment gave Tom
an appealing look, which he understood
and drew his friend to another curiosity.
"As soon as they had gone the girl
entered upon an animated dialogue
with her maid. in which the former
did nearly all the talking.
"'Those men ought to be ashamed Of
themselves TO talk that way. We've
been studying about Admiral Farragut
at school, and it's a disrespect to
speak so even about his wax figure. I
think he was lovely
my heart melted more and more to
my charming defender, and was be.
coming dreadfully ashamed Of my
deception. The maintaining Of tx
ed position was tiresome. but would
rather die than reveal myself
81 don't see. the girl remarked
how 1t is possible to make wax TOOK
SO lifelike See the color in the rhee,iS
the veins. Those eye, can't lie glass /
wonder II he is n wax figure after all.
"At this juncture fly irhted ON my
nose and made my position intoler-
able. The girl came very near and
examined me critically. Then she
raised her taper finger and touched me
On the cheek. This was too much.
broke into smile and said as kindly
as l could
'Mademoiselle. you have made a
mistake
"'Oh, goody gracious.' she gasped,
drawing away as from redhot iron.
II would have apologized. but she
turned and ran away as fast as she
could go, followed by her maid"
"And the second time you metz"
asked the dinner guest
"Oh. that was three years later at a
ball on board the flagship. She recog-
ui1o6 mo opd louoho6 Of tho fnofNopt