The Republican journal., 1882-04-06
Huldah's Success.

A SUMMER SYMPHONY.
She stood before the dish-pan with a
questioning and perplexed expression on
her sweet young face. 1t was August,
and she had washed dishes ever since the
first of June. These particular dishes
were especially eXasperating. As Huldah
said to herself--she was never known to
utter a fault-tinding word in any other
hearing they were call stuck up" How
tired she was of scraping, and scrubbiDg,
and washing. and rinsing, and polishing,
none but her weary little self ever thought.
The teaspoons were stained with eggs,
and sauce plates were rough with sugar
and berry juice, Then there were oat-
meal pans, and pots, and kettles without
number The great rambling farmhouse
was full Of summer boarders, and Huldah
surveyed the pan full and the table full
Of dishes, piled up as high as they could
be without danger of tumble, and Won
dered how she could ever go on washing
the sticky things for the next two months;
for these boarders always remained in the
country through September. After they
went away, Huldah could go to school,
and-better than all-there would be
little time for piano practice, which was
more to this little girl than everything
else in the world. The proprietor of
this house and farm was not Huldah's
own father. He had died when she was
an infant. Her stepfather, John Blais-
dell, was called by his Long Island neigh
bors an unusually 'fore- handed man"
Forehanded in this connection meant
'close listed" for this farmer worked like
c1a To anI cd hic
brain day and night to devise means for
saving it. In order to make this house
popular for summer boarders there must
be piano in the parlor, comfortable, cosy
furniture, and luxurious table. The
piano came hard, but it was good one,
and little Huldah was provided with a
teacher for the fall and winter months,
who agreed to furnish the necessary in
structions for twenty-five cents lesson.
There was one lesson a week, and this
was paid for on the spot by Mrs. Bais-
dell, who, to use her own phraseology,
''skinched it out of the butter money"
Mr.. Blasdell said that "of all the hfalu-
ton notions, this was the hifalutnest"
AS he was never near enough the parlOr
to be bothered with the "strumming,' as
he called it, he soon forgot all about the
matter.
II wonder how girls feel who never
have to wash dishes ?" Huldah asked as
she commenced her scraping. II wonder
if it is wicked to feel like breaking things?
always feel like breaking dishes. Per-
haps shall throw 'em all out of the win
dow some day" and the little girl laugh
ed as she saw in her imagination cups,
81
pots-tiying one after another into the
yard. Then she pinned up her calico
sleeves, tied her bib-apron a little more
securely, and went briskly at the obnox-
ious work. 1t was hard work, but she
did not stop for a long time. Then a
sudden happy thought seemed to strike
her, for her face looked very bright as
she washed and dried her little red
hands and stole softly into the dining
room. There was no one to see her as
she opened drawer of the great old
fashioned secretary and took out piece
of music and hurried back to the kitchen.
There was strange, weird light IN the
child's brown eyes as she carefully part
ed the sheets, and placed them in a rack
above the sink. The music was an ar
rangement of Beethovens symphony in
A major. 1t had been loaned her by a
lady boarder, who wondered what this
little dish washing country girl could
possibly want of Beethoven. If she could
have seen the child's rapt look as she
stood on her wooden stool before the
sink, humming the wonderful strains, and
keeping time with the glasses she was
polishing, she would have had some faint
| realization, at least, of what it meant.
Sometimes Huldah got too near the end
of the stoo! and lost her equilibrium, and
sometimes she forgot and polished the
same piece two or three times over, but
she never stopped work, and, indeed,
made considerable progress. In the midst
OF Huldah's greatest enthusiasm her moth
er entered upon the scene, and immedi-
ately took il the situation.
"Huldah Calhoun' she exclaimed,
''those dishes ought all to have been
washed and put away. What are you
doing with that piece of musc?"
Just seeing how it goes; that's all"
said the child, with sigh.
go and pat it where you got it from,
this minute" the lady continued, sternly.
''1our father has just sent up word that
he can't spare anybody to pick the beans
| for dinner. You'll have to do it, and iron
the napkins besides. Dear me, Huldah !!
If you knew how you keep things behind
hand with your capers you would be more
careful"
Huldah took the music back to the sec
retary drawer; then, without a word,
wiped the dishes and hurried out among
the bean vines. Huldah liked to pick
beans. Anything that took her out of
doors was a relief and diversion, and
now the full, green pods came off the
curling vines and dropped into the pan
to the time of the Seventh Symphony.
Huldah had. thought very much about
the composing of this wonderful music.
Some one had told her that this sympho-
ny was written when the great master
was too deaf to hear note of it. This
seemed very sad to the sensitive child,
and now the beans fell more slowly, and
Huldah had to leave off picking and wipe
her eyes. Then the sad face frightened
as she thought of something else she had
been told. Beethoven played so well on
the violin when he was only II years old
that he made many of those who heard
him weep and everybody came away from
the performance wondering at the little
boys genius. 1t was piece of Bach's
that he played when folks cried so hard.
She loved Bach's music, too. She recall
ed sparkling fantasia and fugue she had
heard when neighbor took her to the
city to hear great concert, and her eyes
shone with a new light; but they soon
grew sad again. Her friend had told her
that Bach studied so hard that he became
totally blind, and died dissatisfied with
the beautiful things he had written, be-
cause he could not compose any more.
Bach played the organ well when he was
only syears old. She wondered if Beetho-