Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1875-08-06
Selected Mlistellaug.
AN EPISODE.
BY Nus. NELLIE EYsrEn.

To overlook the influence of music
upon tho life Of the people, must be i'm
possible, because the part of life SO in
hucnccd is the best part; it is the inner
life, that of tho soul and the mind"
A conviction of the truth just quoted
pcrmcates, to greater or less degree,
the consciousness of every rational being,
but occasionally in ones everyday
happenings, there occurs startling ex
perionce, making the belief SO profound
ly positive, that forever after it boldly
stands out in the memory, ''unqucstion-
ed and unquestionable."
It came to me years ago, in little
town in this State, on the afternoon Of
sultry day in July. ! was spending the
week at the village inn. Craving d.
version from the landlady's goodnatured
gossip, | sought the cool, old-fashioned
parlor, and opening piano which stood
there, soon found that rare companion
ship which ever comes when sommoned
from the world of tone. For an hour !
played on uninterruptodly my music
combined with the heated air, sopora-
ting all within its circuit of sound, from
the Irish hostler outside the stable, who
snored basso profundo, to the very
bees and flies, whose droning had passed
into drowzing-whon suddenly, but
quietly, the door behind me was opened,
and I heard the creak of q football
Concluding it was child, | played on,
recalling snatchcs of Becthoven's Sonata,
which move the heart like words Of
solemn tenderness. A shadow across
my hands and deep sigh just behind me
caused me to look back, when q figure
only half human in its disguise of rags
and dirt, with the widest, most haggard
face which even the weird fancy Of a
Dore could conceive, met my gaze. Ny
instinct was to scream with terror but |
had no time to obey it, as the creature,
with an earnestncss which awed me,
motioned me to continue, crying, ".Jone1i
Jonez I Jonez r. | dared not deny him,
and covering the keys with my hands,
| tried tostike chord, but terror had
so unnerved me | could not control sin
gle muscle. Half pushing me from the
STOOL the stranger stood for a moment
before the instrument, seeming almost
to devour it with his eager, human eyes.
Timidly placing his fingers over the keys,
he struck three full diversions of the chord
of G, then leaping into the air as though
frenzicd with delight, sank on his knees
before it, and kissed the bits of inscnsi
bic ivory, as dcvotee would the feet of
saint. Again touching them, wild
but thrilling combination of sound re-
sponded. He then ran scale, which
rippled beneath his fingers in tangled
curves of liquid melody. Once more he
kissed the keys, knelt to them, tried to
embrace the entire instrument, struck
few notes, and leaning his face against
the music rack, burst into tears. The
depths of his soul seemed broken up.
His whole frame was convulsed with
emotion, while sobs and groans alter
nately issued from bis quivering lips.
At length, raising his streaming eyes to
heaven, he trillcd the keys, and brought
forth continuation Of such sounds as
genius alone could evoke.
One moment the melody seemed to
wall like a soul without hope another
moment and it yearned with infinite love
and pity. rapid transposition, and it
was the low monotone of mothers lul-