Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-01-06
ROMANCE or A
MIDSRIPMAN
Won a Wife by Posing as a
Hero Done In Wax.

Halsteadf'
The alSstion gas asked .b- guest
Of Austin Ha!stpiid aftet a.. :.ar. when
the wives. OF the two men hid retired
TO rps drswing. .ruam. an l',iguits war~
brought 10 the !dIh!pR -ia,3s smile
passed over Hnlstarti'x f,S'e:
That's p funny xtury.,' he Eaid 20
81 hadn't Deen out nf the Naval
acndemy a year and .w2s "a ifgi sf
uonseuse M the day r left ANNAPOLIS
Our ship was QTtlered;tib she BROOKLYN
navy yard for. redtipu. .qpd. h'.Siiia .
good deal OF fine 'Un N.Y.. hands; I
spent i Up New York. ,Iy.foupd the
Eden Alusee n good place tor eel nway
With i'm afternoon and spent not only
one but Hevernl sthere. !, Oue ,dny+I
was In uniform at the TIME. hnvlng
been ordered GU some OH ihr duty in
New York connected with the sfipAI
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
IONS went by. and Tom left. me
temporarily to 20 to speak TO him.
II noticed that several persons look:
ed at me scrutinizingly. suspecting
that since / was in uniform might
be wax figure of some great naval
hero. hut as soon as they perceived
that | was merely real live MILDLY
they lost interest In me and passed on.
Presently L saw coming a young girl
OF sixteen. whose dresses had not
been let down to the length for wo-
men, In the care OF French maid.
She was one OF the piqunnt kind full
OF anime ion. This was evidently her
first visit TO the show. and she was
intensely interested In everything she
saw. She gave me an inquiring glance,
then asked her maid in French wheth-
er was iesh and blood or wax Not
getting a satisfactory reply. she came
nearer and fixed her sparkling black
eyes upon me.
"of OF se II was mean thing to do.
but what can you expect from young
ster who has also. the disadvantage Of
being q sailor ashoref 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 pantonime.
Tom had as mu Ii deriftry' in him as i
and was equally culpable. Tipping the
wink to his companions. he led the way
toward me
"'Did you ever see Admiral Farra-
gut as yornR mnnT he said. loud
enough to be heard b. the girl. Here
he is just IA he was at twenty-one.'
''The two stood before me while I
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. N oe
"'No one would suppose said Tom.
that the great naval hero could have
been such miserable looking spect-
men Of humanity In his early days.
Look at that nose. Did you ever SEQ
such q proboscisT
81 think he was very handsome
said the giri to her maid indignantly.
"vThen his hands big enough for d
No 10 glove. And his feet they'd
cover the quarter deck of a line OF bat.
tie ship. ~
THE girl tossed her head and turned
her back en- the speaker. How I ever
retained my gravity !, don't know.
that L felt-a horror. of laugh
Ing. for 1t would have revealed a ter
r1ble slight upon the young girl had
already had enough Of the Joke, and
wished that Tom would go 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 fr. end to another curiosity.
''As soon ms 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 Fnrragut
at school. and it's disrespect to
speak so even about his wax figure. I
think he was lovely. ~ -c
"My heart melted more and more to
my charming defender. and was be-
coming dreadfully ashamed Of my
deception. The maintaining Of d az
ed position was tiresome. but I would
rather die than reveal myself. ,.,
~ don't see.' the girl remarked.
how II Is possible to make wax hook
10 lifelile See the color in the cheeks.
the veins. Those eyes can't be glass. I
wonder If he Is wax figure after ALL
AT this juncture dy lighted on my
nose and made my position intoler-
able. The Riri came very near and
examined me critically. Then she
raised her taper finger aud touched me
on the cheek This was roo much. I
broke into smile and sibid .ns kindly
ms could:
:" 'MademoiSslle. you have made q
mistake.
Oh. goody graciousr she Easped.
drawing awny M from redhot iron.
II would have npolopized, but she
turned and ran away ny fast az she
rould go. followed ny her maid"
"And the second time YOU met o. 4
asked the dinner guesf,
"Oh. that was three wears later NJ n
bail ON bonrd the fag'hlp She rec,g-
iized me and lauched AZ the incif,rni
fell in love WITH her md we we're
married. Hut there's o'hing funn'
about that