The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1861-10-10
breathing out the agony of tortured

royal party had left the cathedral, he stole
away as mysteriously as he had come. He
was not seen again by the sexton till the
vesper hour, and then he appeared in the
organ loft and commenced his task. As
he played, yelled figure glided in, and
knelt near side shrine. There she re-
manned till the worshippers had dispersed
when the sexton touched her on the shoul-
der and said
"Madame, everybody has gone but you
and me, and [ wish to close the doors"
"I am not ready to go yet" was the re-
ply; "leave me-leave me-"
The sexton drew back into shadowy
niche, and watched and listened. The
mysterious organist still kept his post, but
his head was bowed upon the instrument,
and he could not see the lone devotee.-
At length she rose from the aisle, and
moving to the organ loft, paused beside
the musician.
"Bertram," she murmured.
Quick as thought the organist raised
his head. There, with the light of a
lamp suspended to the arch above falling
full upon her, stood the Princess who had
graced the royal pew that day. The court
dress of velvet, with its soft ermine trim
mings, the tiara, the necklace, the brace
lets, had been exchanged for grey serge
robe, and long, thick veil, which was
now pushed back from the fair, girlish
face.
"Oh Elizabeth, Elizabeth !" exclaimed
the organist, and he sank at her feet, and
gazed wistfully into her troubled eyes.
"Why are you here, Bertram ?'' asked
the Princess.
81 came to bid you farewell, and as I
dared not venture into the palace, gained
access to the cathedral by bribing the bell
ringer, and having taken the vacant seat
of the dead organist, let my music breathe
out the adieu [ could not trust my lips to
utter"
A low moan was his only answer, and
he continued
"You are to be married on the morrow"
"Yes," sobbed the girl. "Oh, Bertram,
what a trial it will be to stand at yonder
altar, and take upon me vows which will
doom me to living death ~
''Think Of me" rejoined the organist.
"Your royal father requested me to play
at the wedding, and l have promised to
be here. If | were your equal could
be the bridegroom instead of the organist,
but poor musician must give upw
at is like rending soul and body asun-
der to part with you," said the girl. ''To-
night may tell you this-tell you how
fondly [ love you, but in a few hours it
will be sin Go, so, and God bless
you!''
She waived him from her, as if she
would Danish him while she had the
strength to do so, and he-how was it with
him. He rose to leave her, then came
back, held her to his heart in a long en-
brace, and with half smothered farewell
left her.
The next morning dawned in cloudless
splendor, and at an early hour the cathe-
dral was thrown open, and the sexton be-
gan to prepare for the brilliant wedding.
Flame colored flowers nodded by the way
side, fame colored leaves came rushing
down from the trees and lay in light heaps
upon the ground the ripe wheat waved
like a golden sea, and berries dropped
in red and purple clusters over the rocks
along the Rhine.
At length the palace-gates were unslosed
and the royal party appeared, escortlng
the Princess Elizabeth to the cathedral
where her marriage was to be solemnized.
1t was brave pageant far brighter than
the untwined foliage and blossoms were
the tufts of plumes which foated from
stately heads, and the testal robes that
streamed down over the housing of the
superb steeds. But the Princess, mount
ed on snow-white palfrey, and clad in
snow-white velvet, looking pale and sad /;
and when, on nearing the church, she
heard gush of organ-music, which, tho
jubilant in sound, struck on her ear like
a funeral knell, she trembled, and would
have fallen to the earth had not page
supported her. A few moments after
wards she entered the cathedral. There,
with his retinue, stood the royal bride
groom, whom she had never before seen.
But her glance roved from him to the or
gan-loft, where she had expected to see
the mysterious organist. He was gone,
and she was obliged to return the grace
full bow of the King, to whom she had
been betrothed, from motives of policy.
Mechanically she knelt at his side on the
altar stone-mechanically listened to the
service and made the responses. Then
her husband drew her to him in con-
vulsive EN- brace, and whispered
elizabeth, my Queen, my wife, look
up ;.
Trembling IN every limb, she obeyed.