The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-02-01
hELENOHE.

bELENOBE.
Belle G. Greene, In the Continentl
She came to our door one dreary Novem
Der day in Q pouring rSin, and begged in
broken English that we would take her into
our service.
She belonged to q miserable French Ca
madam family that had lived in the city for
many years; but, shiftless and degraded ss
they were. it it was evident, from the young
girls account, that they considered her the
black sheep among them; and her mother,
always harsh with her, for some reason had
recently grown more 30. until that morning
after an unusually cruel be ating, Helenore-
she said her name was Helenore Baldeau-
had fed from under her hand, and shaking
of the dust of her native alley, wandered
she neither knew nor cared whittier, till
hunger and fatigue led her to seek q shelter
with Us.
Her plain and somewhat heavy face was
swollen and red with weeping, and there
was q look of pleading in her great soft black
eyes that was difficult to resist.
"Oh, If you would but try mei' she said.
81 can do o good many things; and / care
sleep, and" with shudder, Ito be hurt no
more"
held the door open and looked at her
with compassion stirring my heart. Poor
child? She seemed so young and yet so for
orn, standing there in her dripping garments.
She could not have been more than fifteen
or sixteen years old and she looked up into
my face with an expression of gentle conf
dence that felt it would be cruel to wholly
disappeint.
And then she asked so little-"only place
to sleep and bread to eat and to be hurt no
more"
The tears came to my eyes as her simple
words REQUIRED to me, and yielding to sud-
den impulse took her in, fed her and made
he< a. comfortable as o.sible; meanwhile
turning 1t over and over in nv mind what
should do with her.
At dinner time held q consultation with
Jack, the nominal head of our family, / ssy
nominal advisedly, for he insists that defer
to HIN only rs Q matter OF form. after having
fully determined in my own mind upon any
course OF action.
Be this rs it may, he generally confirms
my decisions, thus making assurance doubly
sure; 90 this time after looking over my
Every latest" ne he called her, he promised
70 20 to her mother and negotiate, If he
could, for Helenores services.
As Q result of that interview he found out
for o certainty that Madame Bsdeau was a
horrible old vixen; bat she readlly agreed to
let her daughter remain in our employ if,
after q suitable trial, we so desired.
When Jack came home at night he found
rs altogether in the sitting room. l was
sewing and Helenore was sitting near me
playing with little Ned, our three -year-old
BOY:
well, Helenore," said he lightly, II
have seen your mother, and you can stay
with Us II you are good g'rL"
She turned toward him with a look of IN
utsrable gratitude aud tried in vain to speak
then, with one swift movement, she threw
herself at my feet, and fastened her great
eyes upon mine with an expression l shall
never forget, she made the sign of the cross
upon her forehead and breast
We saw her do this afterwards on several
occasions when deeply moved, and il was Is
expressive and touching as characteristic.
We soon became much attached to her,
and her odd, wild ways furnished Us no lit
tie amusement One of her favorite pastimes
was to slt with baby in the back door and
plsv on her music" as she called 1t. This
was an invention of Helenores own, and
was only one of her many grotesque bat po-
etic fancies.
It was only o large sheet of thick, stout pa
per, rolled up into q huge trumpet shape
and on this queer instrument she would play
for hours, bringing out the most unhealthy
but withal, musical tones, which the neigh
bors far and near soon learned to marvel at
and to designate as ''Helenore's music"
Sometimes quite an audience would
gather around her while she play ed, and she
always received their applause with much
dignity and as matter of course. But there
WAS one thing about this instrument very
remarkable and mysterious; ii responded to
Helenore's touch and to hers alone. Many
others tried il. but always with poor success
Even Jack, who has q sort of facility with q
- 70 Ar,1 -. al Ill.
opera of "Pstience" on q tin whistle, after q
fashion, finally gave it up in despair, declar
ing that he believed Helenore was q witch ;
undoubtedly it was the popularity of her
voice that gave to her footing such wonder
full effect
she seldom sang and when she did, it
seemed to be solely for the sake of giving
vent to some powerful emotion otherwise
inexpressible- Her voice was low, but very
sweet and flexible; she had no high tones
/ think she considered them too light and
frivolous TO convey the feelings of her
soul.
Ionce asked her why she never sang high
Mine heart is down here she answered,
laying her hand upon her heart; and was
glad 70 believe that in those low, deep tones
of hers 90 tremulous and so solemnly sweet,
the strange poetic soul of this poor untaught
creature found full expression and was sat
is6ed
She sang her own words generally, and
they were without Connections senseless
tumble; and yet as she sang them
they often possessed weird and startling
significance. Here Is one of her songs:
20. happy. happy mel
So still. so ftill, white moon
To lee. to love. TO die.
All sill and white TO der
By questioning found out what these
words meant 70 her. She Was always at ease
with ms, and could express herself more
freely 20 me than to anybody else; % she
tried 10 explain this verse
She aid che Was On, 80 happy she
s.all stiII 70 che loved TO have the white
80 ~ = kfodlv 49,, - "A -s-kx