The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1880-06-03
A MYSTERIOUS PIANIST.

natural agency. Many similar events
must frequently occur which are not re-
corded, and whose cases, owing to SUI
perstitiOn or fear, remain undiscovered.
An investigation of all such seeming
mysteries at the time and in the plac.
where they occur, might save many a
onean infnity Of discomposing thoughts,
which not seldom end in the reception
of most absurd belief. II the veracity
of the following narrati"e be questioned,
names and places can afford no proof |
can therefore only assure the reader that
the narrative il true to the minutest
particular, and was jotted down while
the circumstances were fresh in my
memory.
On the last day Of 1879 left home to
pay my annual visit TO my widowed
mother and deliver my New Year greet
ings in person. On my arrival found |
number Of old friends assembled to ex-
change good wishes and usher in the
dawn of the new year. As the COM
pany was dispensing some one suggested
song; and, as | was crcdi ed with some
ability in that direction, | was at once
appealed to. ! consented, and we adj
iourncd to another room, where my sis
tcr's piano had stood untouched since
her lamcnted death, which had happened
two years before. 1t was an old instru.
mcnt of six and half octaves, of the
cottage shape, with nothing remarkable
about it save that solid, substantial look
which is so foreign to many articles Of
modern furniture. sat down and rat
tied off few rollcking ditcs suited to
the occasion, winding up with the ever
new "Auld Lang Sync" as our guests
departed. Noticed while playing that
the instrument was much out of tune,
and that several OF the levers were dis.
ordered or displaced. | specially noticed
that one wire of the 6 in the fifth
octave was much Halter than the other,
which gave the note peculiar and
easily recognizable sound.
As | was to sleep in the apartment, |
sat down by the fire to smoke pipe and
muse on the changcs time had wrought
on the little world of my boyhood The
keyboard Of the instrument glistening
in the freight inscnsiby led my
thoughts to that vanished hand that
had so often nimbly and skifully
pressed it, Only two short wears ago
she had sat there singing my fayorite
airs with the rich, mellow voice that
was hers alone AS wave after wave of
memory snrgcd over my heart became
so abstractc that fancicd | heard the
cadence Of her beautiful voice like the
distant echo in a Dire III | remembered,
too, that the last song | heard her sing
was that touching me ody welded to
the words of Burns weird song "Opcn
the Door to Me, Oh" With my minds
ear hea d the pathc ic wall with which
the melody concludes and was Just on
the point Of awaking from my day
dream, when the piano mt my side slowly
and distinctly repeated the last simple
bar Of the music, with the faulty for
the keynote. was not startled; the
mysterious accompaniment was 40 In
unison with my rcycrir that it was some
minutes before ! realized what had oc.
Cured My first idea was that by long
dlsuse, some of the hammers had become
relaxed and had fallen forward on the
strings. But on trying the notes |
found they responded readily to the
touch, For some time | tried to solve
conclusion that had been duped by my
own cars, shut down the keyboard
and jumped into bed, where was soon
unconscious Of mortal and spirit al ke.
had slumbercd for some time, when
suddenly awOke with that singing
nsati0n over the whole body which,
with me, always bctokens nervous ex-
element; and lol the piano was sound
ing. ! sat bolt upright: tried to shake
of the hallucinaton, and listened again.
There was no denying the fact. Some
invisible power was touching both the
bass and treble notes. struggled
against queer feeling that began to
creep over me, and tried to reason.
Judging from Il former experience, I
thought it might be some animal travers-
ing the wires; but then ! reflected that
that was impossible in their pcrpendcu-
lar position neither could any animal
agitate both treble and bass at the Same
time, as my ear informed me was he NC
done. Mastering courage, Jumped out
Of bed, and approached quietly, when
the performance suddenly ceased I
opened the keyboard and the top lid
pccred into every nook and Granny, ey-
amncd the floor and wall; but could
discover nothing. | stirred up the fire,
and sat down with my face toward the
instrument In this position distinctly
saw several of the keys move with
gentle undulating motion; but no sound
followed. While sat, this was repeated
more than once and the popularity was,
that when the keys moved there was no
sound, and when the sounds were pro-
duced there was no perceptible motion
of the keys. felt the eerie feeling steal
over me again, but still sat and watched
for repetition of the music.
My patience was all but exhausted,
when all at once the mystical perform or
resumed his PLAYING, mt first in an unde-
cided hesitating manner, gradually
merging into plaintive irregular kind Of
notes, of which the faulty G was again
the key. When the sounds first struck
the ear, they seemed to be weak and
faint, utgradually increased in volume.
The treble movement was now and then
accompanied by chromatic movement
on the bass notes, which though not in
accordance with the rules of harmony,
was not unpleasant to the ear. At times
run to the highest possible note;
too, the treble made rapid
then after pause, the irregular notes
were resumed. Seizing moment when
the mysterious performer seemed much
engrossed with his task, darted to the
instrumept when the sounds AGAIN