The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-11-24

don't see such odd exhibitions every
dav and that flashing hand OF MS Is
hard to forget -
..yr VII, find the man first, then
announced Resiiius Marvel deliberate
" and with easy con!idence-'thc rest
will follow
did not meet ResiIius narV'i
again that day nor the next. II was
difficult. however, for me to keep nay
mind off the curious case INTO when
I had been plunged midway and theh
left 10 augury and doubt. iound ny
self watching innumerable faces loF
traces of A long curling mOustache'
and studied every movement OF haiuS
well manicured Without success, OF
course for the payee of the Sl,OVo
was not only an oddly, but spe-
cialist. Then about five O'Clock III the
evening came the welcome call from
Marvel TO join him at designated
place
You have a couple OF hours TO
spare" was his first question.
More than that. if your program is
Of the usual interesting character,
submitted.
We will ta''e the elevated to Won
derland, then" announced my com
panion.
The Wonderland naturally sug-
gested the faker, the minor stage, and
such freaks as human quilts and like
specialties in the curio field
Your man Is there / suppose"
concluded
Il have reason to believe so / know
q good deal more about manicuring
than / did when last saw you" mar
rated Marvel. That was the first
natural field of exploitation suggested.
A man proud of his handy pen finger
would bestow due care and attention
upon It. hit a clew at d highup
manicure parlor. Our man, if the ear
marks Of description do not fail. is
a weekly client there. find that fin
ger nail of his is true professional
asset
PROFESSIONAL ! repeated-'in what
way"
Did You ever hear of the Profile
Scratcher?" challenged Marvel
Il never did," I confessed.
Neither did l, until this afternoon.
1t seems. however, that this is the
speciality designation of the $1,000
payee. He is pleasure park appen-
dix. and at present is playing at Won
derland. We will have our first sight
Of him together"
Wonderland was six miles away "
elevated, a fenCed-in aggregation of
tinsel and folly, and the crowds were
gathering and the electric blaze in
full play when we arrived. My com
panion made some inquiries. We
finally arrived at long row Of booths
and tents The Mystic Lady" her
draperied studio guarded by real
Afghan, was represented in a robe the
color OF fire. her neck and arms en-
twined with the coils of a great sling
ing cobra, its eyes fixed upon hers as
if imparting some occult intelligence.
Next 70 it. about twenty feet away,
was small one-stOry board booth. III
front was a space about ten feet
square with door leading into rear
apartment A smooth board painted
white stood upon an easel. \ barker
was pacing Up and down in front of
the booth announcing the merits of
the wonderful profile scratcher." A
young man and a girl companion came
along and halted to look at profile
specimens arrayed on a counter in
front of the booth. They were taking
III the sights.
Fifty cents" announced the
barker" briskly approaching. "A
perfect profile of the young lady. some
thing our Of the common. cheap as
dirt and real art. This way, miss"
and he led the young lady to chair
inside the booth, posed her sideways
in chair and touched bell. A man
arrayed in a fantastic flowing GARD
came out from behind a pair of cheap
curtains.
The moment my eyes rested on this
individual | knew him TO be the person
whom Teller AGnew had described
There was the flowing moustache, and
there the delicate white hand and
the magic forefnger 1t few Unto
action now. The man was a natural
adept in an exclusive artistic line.
Against the easel he set piece OF
bristol board covered with some
white material, pliable but not glutin-
Gus. He took glance at his fair
subject and then his hand swept the
sheet on the easel It was fairly
his use of his hand. He
was in all verify a profile scratcher."
Simply with his finer nails he sketched
in white background. then in long
semicircular sweeps he began a pro-
totype Of the head Of his sitter That
pen finger of his made |
delicate curves of beauty, the overlap
readily responding to his dexterous |
The profile was perfect. |
The artist sized the card with some
liquid so as to harden the overlap |
against the background, wiped it of |
handed 1t to the young lady.