Evening star., 1921-10-23

ceremony in old Liberty Hall. hey?"
He attacked the nicely Drowned
chicken that lay on the plate before
him. He took a stalk of celery from
the holder nearest. He found crisp
bread roll in his napkin and crushed
IL. breaking it in two. Eutter was
on the individual butter plate at his
hand. The water in his crystal goblet
was iced. As he ate he talked to the
wax figures.
THE wax figures were admirably
done. Any one who has made a
are of remarkably different merit.
There are those one sees in cloak
store windows on upper Sd ave-
nue.; look cheap and they are cheap.
Their smiles are impossibly artificial
.,apdassseir asaRkaqateaag such as no
human being ever possessed They
are. indeed. mere dummies for dis
playing garments as cheap and shod-
dy as themselves. As you near 5th
avenue and Broadway the wax figures
improve in likeness to living human
beings. In the great department
stores and elite shops the wax fig
ures reach their greatest perfection.
Their faces are natural and have
character: their limbs are articulated
50 that they can be seated or placed
in natural standing positions. You
only know they are dummies by the
price tags they bear and the fact
that they stand in show windows and
by. perhaps. slightly waxy appear
ance of the faces and hands. Even
this perfection can be surpassed if
the maker is given the opportunity
OF
the table were of the most perfect
quality. The women were beautifully
gowned, the men neatly clothed.
They were well posed. 1t might have
been a group of society men and
women petrified just as they had
conversed brilliantly. He spoke of
base ball, golf, the Castles, the latest
musical comedy, asked whether his
right-hand neighbor would get to
Newport this season and whether his
left-hand neighbor had attended the
races at Belmont Park.
And by the way. Miss Wander
gould" he said, speaking to the fig
ure in the steel blue evening gown.
halfway up the table on his left, II
haven't seen you in the park lately"
Miss Vandergould" did not reply.
Her waxen face was turned away
from Benny. toward that Of her
neighbor.
'oh. very well! Not that 1 care"
said Benny. Il merely mentioned it"
He was having grand time. He
was privileged to do all the talk all
the time. He cracked a joke with
his neighbor on the right. He pre-
tended to listen to reply. "oh.
to speak to Miss Vandergould" again.
His words died on his lips. He had
not been conscious of a sound or of
a motion. however slight, on the
part of any one at the table except
himself. but the wax figure he jest
ingly called Miss Vandergould" had
her-he could not be mistaken. She
had been looking at her neighbor:
now she looked not at Benny, but
past him. She was as waxenly mo-
tionless as before, her eyes had the
same CLASSY glitter; she was, seem
lngly, the same wax figure, but she
had moved her head. There could
doubt it. 1t was fact.
The noisy little book agent be-
came silent. He was not frightened,
he had an uncanny feeling. He
looked up and down the table. try
ing to learn whether any Of the
placed his hand on the waxen arm
of the Count" at his side. It was
wax--cool. slightly greasy wax He
touched the hand of the female
figure at his other side. It was wax.
Benny pushed his chair nervously.
Say, what Is this, anyway" he
asked. The CLASSY eyes of the figure
in steel-blue stared past him un-
heedingly. He arose and walked
toward it-or her. Whats the
joke?" he asked. There was no an
swer.
Benny stood beside the figure in
teel-blue-"Miss Vandergould," as he
had called her-and stared. He could
not see SO much as a futter Of her
white bosom. He placed his hand on
her snowy, waxen shoulder. II the
shoulder had been fiery hot he could
not have drawn his hand away more
quickly. It was the warm. soft
shoulder Of a human being! The
woman was alive!
He fed. He was fresh" and he
had nerve" but at the moment he
was no longer Benny Barr. He had
a feeling of shame because he had
laid his hand on the bare shoulder
of a beautiful woman, and he had
a feeling of uncanniness because he
could not understand. How many
more of the wax figures were flesh
and blood? He grasped his hat in
Miss vandergould-" The CLASSY eyes
stared unseeingly past him. The lips
remained set in their CLASSY smile.
Had he not felt the warm flesh yield
under his hand he would not even