Evening star., 1924-05-11

the other. 1.-THE Pyramids of Egypt,
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon"
With the ease OF one repeating house
hold words he ran eff six; with ad-
mirably studied effect paused before the
seventh: And, and. let me see; dear
me, how stupid of me; ah, yes, of
course: and the seventh the Pharos of
Alexandria,"
Well" exclaimed Mrs. Hunt; and
ii was perfectly clear from the tone
of her Well, and from the admir-
ing gaze at Edward with which she
accompanied it that she was far less
impressed by the wonderful Seven
than by the fact of this likable
young man thus Familiarity knowing
them. Mr.. Hunt also gazed upon
EdwaSd with an obvious respect: and
divers other members of the Excel
sior near about who had inclined
their ears towards Edwards voice
and for the benefit of whose ears
Edward had very kindly raised his
voice, smiled and nodded thanks and
were heard to whisper: very clever
young man that young Edward Bry-
ant. you know"
1t was a thoroughly impressive
little triumph for Edward. and Ed
ward was immensely pleased with
himself by Jove, I'll stick to those
cigarettes in future" said Edward
to himself gratefully; and happy
chance, once more, came to his aid
to rescue him from an appalling ca
tastrophe, to the brink of which, in
the midst of his satisfaction, Mrs
Hunts next words suddenly project
I'd him.
And what" said Mrs. Hunt, loud
and clear, and what was that last
one, that Pharos OF Alexandria,
Poor Edward. He hadn't a notion,
not the faintest glimmer of an idea
Why" said Edward, "the Pharos,
of course Hush. Just beginning.
You'll hear in a minute
K
strT>HE Seven Wonders OF the
World" began the lecturer, "as,
of course. the members of a society
such as this need no telling. were"
Edward, after the first few SEN
tences, heard never a word. He was
day-dreaming. He was castle build
ing. He was seeing himself climbing
up in the world, always thus listen
ed to, always thus respectfully
gazed upon. rapidly gaining place,
power and wealth; and he was OBJ
serving particularly in the admiring
throng a beautiful girl whose hero
he was and to whose feet triumphs
would be brought. And he was waited
from all this onto concentration on
the lovely creature, creating her (for
she did not exist) and imagining her;
and he was thinking all this when
suddenly he fund. to his amazement,
SO vividly and at such length had he
been thinking IL, that the lecture was
over, the lights up, and the chair
man making an announcement.
He came to himself and listened.
The committee of the Excelsior
Literary Society, the chairman was
saying, had much pleasure in adopt
ing the lecturers suggestion and Of
fering a prize-"of FIVE guineas,"
said the chairman impressively Gap
plause)-for the best essay on the
eighth wonder of the world.
Edwards mind again was swing
ing away. He would go in for this
compe tition; he would win it: he
would stand up there and read his
paper to echoes of applause. The
eighth wonder? What could it be?
What should he choose? Wireless?
The turbine engine? The aeropiane.
The lights, as has been said, were
turned m Edwards position in the
hall was at the extreme end of one of
the two hor9s into which the chairs
were drawn forward in semicircle
about the lecturers table. Edward
thus looked directly upon the faces
of the members seated at the farther
horn Of the semicircIe and all of a
sudden, lifting up his eyes in his
cogitation-the Eighth Wonder?
What? Which? The Eighth Wonder?
all of sudden, hitting him with
shock, and holding him with a
breathless catch, Edward saw The
Eighth Wonder of the World seated
over against>him!
II y
THE Eighth Wonder of the World
wore a brown dress and held on
her lap a brown hat trimmed with
brown velvet. She had come in, evil
IDENTIFY, while the lecture was in prog
ress and the room in darkness, for
she certainly had not been there
when Edward last could see in that
direction and as certainly Edward