The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-07-07

er, he said. "This is a nice country
for Christian to live in"
Getting piece of paper he scrawled
the words:
s20 Reward
-: To Compliant Pianer Player.
''''....'.... ...,-.....
This he stuck up on the music rack,
and though the inscription glared at the
frequenters of the room until midnight,
it failed to draw any musician from his
shell.
So the merrymaking went on; the
hilarity grew apace. Men danced and
sang to the music of the squeaky fiddle
and worn out guitar, as the jolly crowd
storm without. Suddenly they became
aware of the presence of a white haired
man crouching near the fireplace. His
garments. such as were left, were wet
with nefting SNOW, and he had half
starved, half-crazed expression. He
held his thin, trembling hands toward
the fire, and the light of the blazing
wood made them almost transparent.
He looked about him once in while,
as if in search of something, and his
presence cast such chill over the place
that gradually the sound of revelry was
hushed, and it seemed that this waif of
the storm had brought in with it all the
gloom and coldness of the warning ele-
ments. Goskin. mixing up cup of
egg-nog, advanced and remarked cheer
iy:
Here, stranger, brace upl This is
the real stuff. T"
The man drained the cup, smacked
his lips and seemed more at home.
"Been prospecting, eh? Out in the
mountains caught in the storm? Live
ly night, thisp'
''Pretty bad," said the man.
"Must feel pretty dry?"
The man looked at lis streaming
clothes and laughed, as if Goskin's re-
mark was sarcasm.
"How long out?"
"Four days"
Hungry"
The man rose up and walking to the
lunch counter, fell to work on roast beef,
devouring it like any wild animal would
have done. As meat and drink and
warmth began to permeate the stranger,
he seemed to expand and tighten up.
His features lost their pallor, and he
grew more and more content with the
idea that he was not in the grave. AS he
underwent these changes the people
around him got merrier and happier, and
threw off the temporary feeling of de-
preston which he had laid upon them.
Presently his eye fell upon the piano.
"Where's the player ?" he asked.
'sNever had any," said Goskin, blush
| ing at the confession
'I used to play when was young"
Goskin almost tainted at the admis-
stranger, do tackle it and give us
tune. Nary man in this camp ever had
the nerve to rastle with that music box
His pulse beat faster, for he feared that
the man would refuse.
''I'n do the best I can" he said.
There was no stool, but seizing a can
die box, he drew it up and seated him
self before the instrument. It only re-
| quired few seconds for hush to come
| over the room.
''That old coon is going to give the
thing rattle"
The sight of man at the piano was
something so unusual that even the faro
dealer who was about to take in $50
bet on the tray, paused, and did not
reach for the money. Men stopped drink
ing with the glasses at their lips. Con-
versation appeared to have been struck
with sort of paralysis and cards were
no longer shufaed.
The old man brushed back his long,
white locks, looked up to the ceiling,
half closed his eyes, and in mystic sort
of reverie passed his fingers over the
keys He touched but single note, yet
the sound thrilled the room. It was the
key to his improvisations, and as he
wove his chords together the music laid
its spell upon every ear and heart. He
felt his way along the. keys like a man
treading uncertain paths, but he gained
confidence in his work like a master.
The instrument was not in exact tune,
but the ears of his audience, through
long disuse, did not detect anything
wrong. They heard succession of grand
chords, suggestion of paradise, melod
les here and there, and it was enough.
''See him counter with his left ]! salt
the old rough, enraptured.
"He calls the turn every time on the
upper end of the board" responded
man with stack of chips in his hand.
The player wandered off into the olt
ballads he had heard at home. All tn,
sad, and melancholy, and touching song
that came up like dreams Of childhood
this unknown player drew from the keys
His hands kneaded their hearts lik
dough, and squeezed out the tears a
from a wet sponge. As the strain
flowed one upon the other, they say
their home of long ago reared again
they were playing once more where tn
apple blossoms sank through the sol
air to join the violets on the green tul
i of the old New England States; the
/, saw the glories of the Wisconsin maple
and the haze of the Indian summe
, blending their hues together; they So
| the heather of the Scottish hills, tn
white cliffs of Briton, and heard the sui
|, len roar of the sea as it beat upon thei
: memories vaguely.
Then came all the old Christmas carol
that they had sung in church thirt
years before; the subtle music tina
;, brings up the glimmer of wax-tapers
: the solemn shrines, the evergreens, ho
ly, mistletoe, and the surpliced choirs
y. Then the remorseless performer plante
= his final stab in every heart with "Home
t Sweet Home"
F, When the player ceased, the crow
1t skunk away from him. There was I