Summary

This section opens with a description of the Funicular Follies, an annual event among elevator inspectors with live music and attractive dancers. Lila Mae has snuck into the event by dressing as a caterer, and no one recognizes her. Natchez had left her a note saying he had a surprise for her at the event.

Towards the end of the event, two men enter the stage and perform in blackface using insulting and exaggerated Southern dialect. Chancre follows them onstage and attempts to give a demonstration of a safe elevator in imitation of Otis’s famous original declaration — however, the safety spring does not deploy and Chancre falls, injuring himself. Meanwhile Arbergast, suspicious of who he still perceives as a colored serving girl, lunges for Lila Mae, but she leaves before he reaches her.

The next section flashes back to Marvin Watson’s...