Bridgeton pioneer., 1885-04-02
CHI LUNG;
A BIT OF HUMAN NATURE.
by DAVID CHRISTIE MURRAY.

side him and began 10 sort it. and he saw
the famii?r faces Of half-a-d zen of the
title of his own works. \ the pieces
which b, re his nam she set; ii and then,
with petty pleading in ervoice and eyes,
she said:
''Will YOU play for us, MI Llwrelc. y"
Uncle Raoul bounced from his seat, and,
crossing the room, threw open tie piano.
The old lady added her request TO Olivia's.
mn. Lawrence will excuse my pipe whilst
he plays" said the elder brother. Il smoke
everywhere" He produced the silken to-
bacco-bag and the big meerschaum, which
he polished with a, siduouS affection before
he filled it.
Lawrence crossed to the piano and sat
down. Olivia stood facing him at the oppo-
site end of the instrument, with her white
hands just touching the dark rosewood as if
with a caress. The rescued stood beside
him smiling atfectionatelya his niece. DIV
ia had noticed Lawrence's hands already,
and when they touched the keys, she re-
marked anew their combination of delicacy
and power They We're large and capable,
and the finger-tps were broad, but they
were eXcel.ently formed, and as white as
her own. He began to play and Olivia be-
gan to dream.
Dull people say that to speak of descrip-
tive music is to give voice to mere abSurdi-
ty, and to couple words without meaning.
But people whose perceptions are not limit
ed to the senses know better. lie that hath
ears to hear, let him hear
The wind moaned outside, the logs crack
led on the open hearth, and the lamplit
room was filled with gentle lights and soft
shadows. The elder brother waggled his
head to the music, and the younger beamed
over the grandson of his dear old friend.
The placid old lady sat with her hands in
her lap, and the tender flow and murmur of
the music made her pleasantly drowsy. But
Olivia saw dim aisleS of forest where the
branches sWayed to the wind, under great
round moon and hazy stars, not seeing these
things merely as in picture, but as one
sees them who moves among the trees
dreaming awake. 1t was forest of old
Greece, and it needed but that turn of
thought to show at the end of a wooded
vista, and far away, the white walls of
Athens. The fairies danced on the moonlit
ward, while Oberon and Titania sat apart
3oking on at their revels we'll pleased. Now
esseurs Bottom and Flute and Ounce
i'd Starveling were here, rousng the night
wi with a rustic catch; and surely that
.ckSy step was PuckS!
She did not know what picture she made
)r the musician, as she stood in the half
ght listening and dreaming. In plain fact
And sober earnest she made just such a pic
IRE as true-hearted young fellow can only
ee once in a lifetime. Lawrence'S own
ilusic had power over him. In music, as in
,,her things, the wounded is the wounding
ieart. If he played, moonlit forest and all
It's mysterious gieam and gloom (and for
once hearers thoughts were at one with
the player's), the tranquil dreamy delight
and faint voluptuous awe filled his heart
and thrilled his nerves and paled his cheek.
If in his music the Fairy Queen loved the
clown, the pity of it mixed with all the
sweet melody of her fancy, and his own
pleasure was like pain.
Any man but blind man would have pro-
nounced Olivia sweetly pretty; but while
the artist lived in the glamour of his own
artistic dream, and looked at her, she grew
to be goddess. There is no Disgusting it.
Certain faces are fate to certain people. The
right man sees the face, sees it long enough
to recognize it, and his business is done-he
is disposed Of Such cases must always be
rare, because the imperative cOmpulson is
not given to every woman, and because
there may be but one man in the world on
whom the face may operate with that SUI
premacy of power which creates love at first
sight. The poets and the story-tellers have
abused this truth, though it is not to be Won
dered at if they have chosen somewhat too
often to dilate upon theme so charming
Lawrence had known himself in danger,
He knew himself out of danger now, as a
dead man might know it if he could look
back at the fatal stroke of minute ago.
The thing was done. He was in love full
fathom five AS he played he looked at
Olivia now and again, and in a while he saw
that her eyes were glistening with moisture
that would not fall; a dew of feeling and
not a rain. The girl loved music. 1t was a
language, passion, delight to her, and
until now she had never heard music like
this. We cannot all get great artists to play
for us in our own private rooms, but if we
could we should hardly be persuaded to g
big concert-room filled with lights and peo-
pie. The sense of domesticity, of the home
freight and lamplight, and of the presence
OF the few she knew and loved, helped out the
charm of the perfect music with another
charm which had never accompanied it be-
fore in her experience.
The elders were pleased in more tranquil
fashion, and when Olivia half sighed ''Pray
go on!' at the close of the musicians first
performance they were well content that
the entreaty should be obeyed. AS for Law
renee, he surrendered himself, and discov-
ering an unusual Elasticity in Olivia's face,
he played upon it as he played upon the in
strument before him. Now her eyes dream
ed, and half-smile parted herlips, and now
she was elate and eager. She dreamed and
smiled at the sedate grace of the minuet,
and when in the changing storm of notes she
heard the rolling of drums and the blare of
trumpets her cheeks flushed and her eyes
frightened with the pride of the rejoicing
sounds. At length she sighed rather than
spoke mere 'Thank you," and Lawrence
sat still with his fingers on the keys. The
elders were loud in praise and wonder, but
then they had felt next to nothing, and had
all their forces at their own disposal. Olivia
was silent, and Lawrence was well pleased.
He had to be away next morning, for more
shooting, at nine O'Clock, and the habits of
the household of the Baron de Roze were
simple and primitive. BY ten o'clock every
body was abed. Olivia lay long awake, and
so did Lawrence, and each was thinking of