Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-11-27

nlne OUT Oh ten human beings. But YOU
look like an inspiration yourself. nv love
and as long as you keep those tender ewes
for me l snail always play at my best! =
Lisa smiled as she replied, " but were
my tender eyes cold to-nlghtsn
"Do not let us talk of that. Let mo
play for you now. In this dim fre.lioht
alone with you, | feel as though 7 mus
play, ana then, too, do not want YOU to
SO to sleep with the echo of my encore on
your ears"
Without waiting for any reply, though
he mlght nave read one in the eager.
wisttul look she gave him, he took his Vic,
lin from its case on the table beside him
and, after softly tuning it, began to plav
while Lisa, sinking down into her easv
chair, laid her head on its cushioned
back, and quietly listened.
At first his music was of a dreamy and
uncertain character, although it was GEN
tie, but the melody wandered incoherentlv
through a maze of fantasy as the plaver
hardly seemed conscious of his own inten-
tons. But soon the tones became frmer
more distinct. and a quick and passionate
air aWoke from them, an ardent spirit in.
splred them. Lisa turned her head 10
look at him, her lips parted, the quietness
forsook her eyes, she leaned forward, and
then, by "a quick, impulsive movement.
slipped TO the floor, and sat there, leaning
her arm On a low cushion, and LOOKING mn
into his eyes.
AS julius watched her, his music grew
more Intense and sharper. The tones be-
came siaccato and quicker, as some un-
quiet thought seemed to vex bis heart.
He wandered among minor tones, he made
half modulatlons and restless combina-
tons, until Lisa's sensitive little heart
could bear it no longer. Her breath was
coming and going in gasps, her eyes were
filled with tears, and an indescribable fer
ment OF feeling made her heart beat un-
easily. 1t seemed to her as if some lost
love, forbidden to love but doomed to
Lonesome active, eager heart, with para
lyZed speech, was trying to express itself;
she listened as long as she could, and
then, leaning over, she laid her hand on
his arm and said:
Julius, | cannot endure it,"
Her lover looked down on her with a
smile that vas not all love, nor altogether
pleasant. An enthusiast in science,
watching the writings of some dumb
animal in the agonies he had predicted
when he gave the poison, might have so
looked, and so smiled. Fortunately, Liza
did not see this, she was simply conscious
Of hes strong and tender arm that lifted
her from the floor and placed her on the
chair again. Once there, her head sank
YEARLY back into its old position, and
julius played so softly and so quietly that
when he left her, soon after, she was
asleep.
Julius was by no means a selfish or
cOid-hearted man, but he was capable Of
being absorbed in one idea, and of sacri-
ticing much personal comfort to any en-
terprlse in which he was interested. Be
fore he knew Liza, he had lived for his
art alone, and friends as well as sweet
hearts had meant but little to him. He
now loved most heartily, and after their
marriage felt her every day grow more
indispensable to him. As she often said,
her only rival was his violin; and yet, as
She, perhaps, instinctively knew-al-
though, being q woman. and 50 DESTROYS
of being loved for her own sake alone,
she would never confess it even to her
self-it was also her best friend. If
julius had been thrown into everyday as
ISOLATION with her, he might nave been
won by her beauty and her sweetness;
but, as it was, he had undoubtedly been
attracted by her sensitiveness to his mu-
e4N- 4 ftD I' Il "a "a Va "a
merit, but he was a composer Of exceed
ingly fine music. Unlike most writers
for their own instrument, he cared but
little for music that displayed technical
ability, but aimed instead at an emo
uOnal development OF his ideas. He
had, perhaps, a morbid desire TO exercise
power over the feelings of his hearers, and
was never really satisfied unless he had
worked himself into intense excitement,
and aroused in Others a corresponding en-
thusiasm. AS he had said, tne remarka-
bic susceptibility shown by Lisa had at
tracted his attention as she sat in the au-
dience, and, as artists and actors are apt
to do, he had o 0 learned to single her
out and to estimate the power of his per-
Torrance by the impression he produced
on her After their marriage her inttu-
ence upon him was still stronger, until it
seemed TO him hat he became more
than ever averse to playing in public, and
the long rows of eXpeC-ant faces, hes sud
den bursts of indiscriminate applause,
almost hateful to him.
But, when he was alone with his wife
in their shady garden, he played for
hours with content and pleasure, until her
pale and exhausted face warned him to
stop. That it pleased her was only too
true, for she found hat her keenest
happiness was in listening to him. SO
subtle became their understanding of Teach
other that the music answered for words,
and all the love that lovers find so hard TO
speak was sung by the violin to her. One
day she told him that if she were dying
she thought it would be hard for her
to choose whether she would rather have
his arms around her, or Lave him free her
spirit with his music. "But sometimes L
think" she added, with a p~layfulness that
daily become more rare, that, If / were
to lay my ear on your violin, 1t would
breathe again to nj all it has in these
happy days told me! SO, perhaps, dear,
You might, after speaking our farewell
through it, lay it by me, and, as | rested
on your heart, it would tell me what your
lips would then refuse to say"
Julius smiled quietly, as he always did
at the tender little fancies of his wife, and
as he turned to looked at her a few moments
after she left the room, he was struck by
The extreme fragility of her appearance.
He hardly dared to confess to himself that
She was weak or sick, but after this IA
could not help seeing that, day by day,
she grew more quiet, cared less to walk or
visit, and was more reluctant to see
strangers, but more eager to hear the Fio-
I'm, and so keep him by her.
But others had noticed this change be
fore her husband had, and finally, some
one, who knew them best, spoke OF 1t, ana
| told hIn, t),o+ cha nna1aI nnIJnai AM