St Nicholas [serial] . fainter,till it ceased entirely,and all the visitorswere gone. ThenLucy heard the at-tendants movingabout, calling toeach other whilethey performed theirlast duties for theday, but what thoseduties were she couldnot see. She wasafraid they werelooking for her, andshe made herself assmall as possible. What will they do .to me if they catchme? she thought. Will they lock meup, and will they callMme. Tussaud as awitness ? Oh, I dohope they wontcatch me! She listened to the men talkingand laughing and making remarks about thecelebrities ; and now and then the swish of someso
St Nicholas [serial] . fainter,till it ceased entirely,and all the visitorswere gone. ThenLucy heard the at-tendants movingabout, calling toeach other whilethey performed theirlast duties for theday, but what thoseduties were she couldnot see. She wasafraid they werelooking for her, andshe made herself assmall as possible. What will they do .to me if they catchme? she thought. Will they lock meup, and will they callMme. Tussaud as awitness ? Oh, I dohope they wontcatch me! She listened to the men talkingand laughing and making remarks about thecelebrities ; and now and then the swish of somesoft material fell upon her ears. She could notunderstand what they meant when they said, Now, then, stupid, do you want to smotherme? A little more this way, Jack. Easy, there,easy! Take care of her head! After a while these remarks came to an lights were lowered, and the attendantsbade each other good night. Then came thesound of the shutting and locking of doors andgates, after which there was a dead -MR. >9°3 A COMEDY IN WAX. I I The exhibition was closed for the night. How strange it seemed! Only a few mo-ments before, the bustle, the laughter, the eagervoices—and now not an audible word, not afootstep! Lucy waited four or five minutes before sheventured to peep out. She saw nothing, heardnothing. After waiting another minute or two,she crept very, very slowly from her hiding-place ; and as she once more stood upright andlooked around, she was startled at the transfor-mation that had taken place. Chapter III. THE MAGIC TOUCH. Not a figure was to be seen. Every wax fig-ure had been put to bed standing, as it were, andwas covered with a calico nightgown. Veryghostly was the appearance of the GrandSaloon in its canopy of dingy white. Brave asLucy was, it would be nonsense to say she wasnot nervous. It was all so uncanny and hob-gobliny that she was almost afraid to move. Presently she remembered she was a littlegirl of courage, and stole softl
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