The Tomahawk., 1917-11-08

don't see such odd exhibitions every
day, and that flashing hand of his is
hard to forget"
1--WE will find the man first, then"
announced Resilius Marvel deliberate
| ly and with easy confidence-"there rest
will follow
| I did not meet Resilius Marvel
again that day nor the next. It was
difficult, however, for me To- keep my
mind off the curious case Into which
I had been plunged midway and then
left to augury and doubt. Ifound my
self watching innumerable faces for
traces of long curling moustache,
! and studied every movement of hands
well manicured. Without success, Of
course, for the payee of the $1,000
was not only an oddly, but a spe-
cialist Then about five o'clock in the
evening came the welcome call from
Marvel to join him at a 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.
| 1--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 I suppose"
concluded.
81 have reason to believe so. I know
a 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. I hit clew at high-up
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 q true professional
| asset"
| professional" repeated-''in what
way?"
Did you ever hear of the Profile
0NA oLNAOA: SAoAAOA6Ou &A0A SOAs
Il never did," confessed.
Neither did !, until this afternoon.
| It seems, however, that this is the
! specially designation of the $1,000
| payee. He Is a 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 by
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 robe the
color of fire, her neck and arms en-
twined with the coils of a great sling
ing cobra, it's eyes fixed upon hers as
if imparting some occult intelligence.
Next to it, about twenty feet away,
was a small one-story board booth. in
front was a. space about ten feet
square with door leading into rear
apartment, A smooth board painted
white stood upon an easel. "A BARKER
| was pacing up and down in front OF
the booth announcing the merits of
the wonderful profile scratcher." A
young man and girl companion came
along and halted to look at profile
specimens arrayed on g. counter in
front of the booth. They were taking
in the sights.
-
barker" briskly approaching. "A
perfect profile of the young lady, some
thing out Of the common, cheap as
dirt and real art. This way, MISS"
and he led the young lady to a chair
inside the booth, posed her sideways
in chair and touched bell. A man
arrayed in a fantastic flowing garb
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 forednger. It few into
action now. The man was a natural
adept in an exclusive artistic line.
Against the easel he set a piece of
bristol board covered with some
white material. pHable, but not glutin-
Gus. He took a glance at his fair
subject and then his hand swept the
sheet on the easel. It was fairly
marvellous, his use Of his hand. He
was in all verify 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
extraordinary pen finger of his made
delicate curves of beauty, the overlap
readily responding to his dexterous
manipulation. The profile was perfect.
The. artist sized the card with some
liquid so as to harden the overlay
AGAINST tho BACKGROUND. wiped it OF