Evening star., 1924-05-11

week, and he found. to his enormous
astonishment, that the wonders of
the Eighth Wonder of the World
caused six pounds a week to go fur
ther. and to leave a larger balance
when all was covered, for the necessi-
ties of two persons than ever he
had contrived to make it go or leave
for the necessities OF one. And then,
too. was the extraordinary business
about his dreams-those dreams of
which 1 have given evidence at the
Excelsior Literary Society in which
he saw himself bounding along to
place, power and wealth.
IN instance, there was the matter
of Spanish. Edward, lying on his
back one evening on the new and
powerfully smelling couch in the new
and powerfully smelling sitting room,
told Clarry that his firm did a very
large South American business, and
that one day he was going to start
learning Spanish, with a view to ad-
vancing himself by getting into the
foreign side of the house. This zone
day" on which Spanish was to be
begun had been in the mind of Ed
ward for five and a half years. By
the wonder of the Eighth Wonder of
tho World it now was astoundingiy
caused to be the very next day after
that on which this announcement was
made to her. Edward, returning to
the heavenly smell on the morrow,
found the Eighth Wonder of the
World awaiting him with the text
books of a course in Spanish con-
Quoted by q school of foreign Ian
guages. A lesson a day was tabu-
lated by this course. Fired by the
wonder of the Eighth Wonder of the
World. Edward took the first seven
lessons at one enormous gulp on that
very same night; on the twelfth day
following he did half a lesson; on the
fifteenth day the fag-end of a lesson
Of two days before, and on the TWEEN
tieth day had been hve days without
doing any lesson, and had no inten-
ton OF ever doing any lesson again.
1t was at this point that the
Eighth Wonder Of the World very Sc
riously exerted her wonders and put
them upon Edward. The words in
which they were received by Edward
abashed Edward and fired Edward;
abashed and fred him anew whenever
(Which was frequently he wished
that Spain and the whole South
American continent might be sunk in
their respective oceans and never
again emerge: and ultimately landed
him at the stage in which he ad-
dressed the head of his firm a letter
in perfect Spanish. pointing out his
mastery knowledge of the Spanish
tongue and suggesting that this
knowledge should be placed at the
disposal of the firm, whose interests
he had so earnestly at heart and
begged to remain, sir, your obedient
servant. Edward Bryant
And 1t was SO.
You know" said Edward, burst
ing with Joy at the very considerable
advancement which shortly followed
this letter-"you know, l absolutely
mover should have got this except for
you"
He was right
THUS and in many similar ways
were manifested to Edward the
wonders Of the Eight Wonder OF the
World; and then there came the time
land this is the last OF them) when
broke upon him in actual fact the
knowledge that the Eighth Wonder
Of the world she was.
This was the time when the Eighth
Wonder of the World spent a con-
siderable portion Of her days in rest
ing on the sofa; when Mrs. Hunt
came to take up residence with her
daughter; when strange packages
came into the house and an enormous
amount of needle work was con-
stantly in progress; and when finally.
on the morning of the climax Of these
proceedings, there entered the place
a dragon, gray, stern and grim. dis
guised as a maternity nurse, and car
rying a brown bag OF, to Edward,
very sinister aspect This dragon,
divesting herself of her outer gar
ments, appeared before Edward in the
sitting room so stif1y starched that
she cracked in every inch OF her
person and at every step Of her tread,
causing him to quail. and told him
he had better go out for the evening;
which Edward. though Quaning. re-