Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1859-10-21

situated in every respect, as an editor should
be, of course. And yet from his coy rear
window he beheld, almost within easy corr
versaiion range, The heavy wall of a vast
tenement building, from a garret window Of
which streamed a light and the sounds that
did not charm him.
IL say, old iellow" shouted he, at a ven
ture, "l'l give you a dollar and seven cents
10 stop that internal fiddler
This reasonable and liberal proposition
was not responded to, probably by reason
of its not having been heard, although in
making il Mr.. \. had appeared anxious TO
avoid secrecy.
"Ecstatically absorbed in his rapturous
rasping," said Mr.. X. to Mr.. Y.
His own occupations elfectually upset.
he was disposed to investigate the causes Of
the disturbance. Ascending roofward he
secured a favorable point of sight. and
brought an operaglass to bear on the hive
of humanity over the way. When he had
passed two minutes in silent contemplation
his wrath had quite subsidized. I'm two more
he had settled himself for a long sitting, and
IN the next two he became deeply interest
/ ed.
He saw:
A garret so narrow and contracted that
IT seemed rather small closet, or q magni-
fed mouse-trap, than a habitable apartment.
ct tins man-coop contained human beings,
furniture, and certain necessary appliances
of humble comfort. A bed, of dimensions
so limited as to suggest the necessity of the
occupants folding themselves together like
carpenters rules, and resting upon one of
those frame-works of cheap ingenuity which
are supported by legs crossed like capital
KS, was discernible, nesting in an angle of
the roof. Upon this bed sat the fiddler.
| gathered up compactly, his lower limbs dis
posed according to the fashion of the Sub
| lime Porte, and bis head reclining against
the bare and broken plastering of the wall.
| The distance could not disguise the self
possessed and contented serenity that rest
ed upon his unmistakably Hibernian coun-
| ienance. In a cot upon the floor were
three little Jumps of innocence, who every
moment half rose in their thin clothes, wag-
ged their heads gleefully, and sawed the
air with their arms in impotent imitation of
the Performer. Sitting down among them
for a chair in that place would have been
a useless vanity and a vexatian, and de-
cent respect for the Artist demanded that
his sphere should not be invaded-was a
woman, the evident matron of the apart
ment, who, as she looked around her, glow
ed with pride and satisfaction. Through
the open door were dimly seen peering three
or four faces, motionless and attentive. The
rare extravaganza of sperm candle rose
proudly from primitive candlestick, form
ed by cutting a hole through potato and
fiickered with an up and down movement,
as if determined to share, in its quiet way,
the general iubilation.
The picture was complete. Mr. X. for
got the violated sanctity Of his studies, and
gazed delighted. He no longer heard the
cries Of the Eumenides, but only the happy
expression of rude and simple JOY. The
bungling achievements of the unskifnl fir
gers might offend the ear of one, but they
gladdened the hearts of many. He did not
stir until the treacherous candle, having ex-
hausted all its vitality by long-continued
splutterings, suddenly jumped up in a final
paroxysm Of ecstasy, and then went out,
and left them all in darkness.
A shout of noisy laughter came over to
Mr.. X. as he screwed down his lorgnette
and returned to his chamber. He glanced
ruefuly for a moment at his unfinished
manuscripts.
"Art Is divine" said he, "but Nature is
eternal III go to bed"
Murty Donahoo had been famous fid-
dler in ireland. For six years or more
ne'er leg had shaken in Ballaghadireen
excepting in response to his blithe call In
an Irish village fiddler is as good as
king. Murty had everything his own way
He had his pick of the prettiest maids for
ten miles around and he chose Pecksheen
Madden because she never cared much to
dance, but always best liked 20 stand near
him watching his nimble fingers with her
pretty eyes, and because she mixed him the
incest mugs of whiskey while he swung the
bow, and because she was an orphan with
no one to look after her except an old un-
Gle who taught the town lads their letters
and took his pay in pigs. So Murty and
| Pecksheen took up the burden of life to-
gether. and carried it happily and easily
for a while; and as Murty was an Irish
man right through, and Pecksheen was an
other, they didn't long have it all to them
selves alone. But-the old sorrowful sto-
ry-famine, hard times, suffering-good-
by to the fiddle, good-by to the baby, good
by 10 home. In New York for while it
was worse-it always is-but then it grew
better As porter in drug store in
Greenwich Street Muriy found himself
not only able TO sustain heavy weights, but
also his wife and little brood A lofty gar
ret in a well-stocked tenement house-two
hundred occupants at least-came well with
in his scanty means, and he was content
No, not con since the dire distress
at home his Joy aud comfort, the Eddie, had
gone forhim. In his heart he silently cher
ished the hope that seme time-in few
years. perhaps, though that was almost look
ing for too mueh-by careful saving he
might accumulate sum sufficient to re-
place this means Of blissful recreation. For
double reason he withheld his plan from
Pecksheen's knowledge. lie feared that
she might frown upon it as too superb an
aspiration and he wished, If it ever should
be realized, to crafty her with bright
surprise.
Al /. t.ssfI