Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-04-29
J VIA THE TELEPHONE.

~
-lS8res +. Adams, IN Harper's Magazine.
WA THE TELEPHONE.
The Way by Which Love and Mar
riage Came.
! am a physician, and, weary with
my round of professional duties, had
thrown myself one evening upon
lounge in my private Office too tired
even to light the cigar that l held be-,
tween my lips. A winters twilight
was setting gray and somber over the
. city; the tramp Of many feet upon the
stone pavement was borne to my ears
in wearying monotony; car bells jim
gled, carriages rolled by, and the thou
sand and one things that go to make up
thenoisesof busy street throbbed and
thrilled through my aching head. Ihad
been "on the go" since early morning;
two accidents had followed each other
in quick succession, and difficult op-
Grafton had to be performed after each;
then, one call after another had kept
me going from one side of town to the
other, until now, my first breathing
spell, found me almost exhausted. l
soon fell into deep slumber, from
which / did not awaken for several
hours, and which would have, in all
probability, continued until morning,
butfor the loud ringing of my telephone
bell, which startled me into sudden
wakefulness. Muttering something
''more forcible than polite,' / CROPPED
my way to the instrument and gave the
customary ''hello.n | waited full
minute for reply, and, none COM
ing, was just about to repeat my
challenge, when, sweet and soft, a
woman's voice echoed through the
wire, singing a quaint melody, tremb-
blingly at first, but gradually growing
purer and stronger, until stood SPELL
bound listening to the liquid, melting
notes. Never had ] been SO moved by
human voice; my whole being thrilled
as it fell upon my ear; now joyous and
triumphant, now almost sob Of
despair. My heart beat wildly; my
blood bounded through my veins, and
/ almost held my breath, SO fearful was
of losing one word or one note. Al
last it stopped, but l stood long after
listening, in hope Of catching agar
those delicious strains.
At length called: "Who are youP
and although repeated again ant
again, received no reply. Somewhat
dazed and bewildered went into my
bedroom, and, hastily undressing, was
soon in bed, only to hear that voice
singing all through the restless, troubled
sleep that followed.
The next day was also busy one
and did not have time to think Of my
strange experience of the night before
1t was quite late when / came in.
had just lighted the gas, and proceeded
to cut the leaves of new magazine
when ''ting-a ling-a-ling" went tn,
telephone, and, to my response, tina
same voice began to sing again.
stood and listened as before, and agair
my heart beat wildly and my whole be
ing thrilled to the melody; again i
ceased, and again l failed to receiv,
any response to my inquiry. Wha
could it meanp Who could the vocal
list bep Was l the victim of an hallu
cination or of practical joker What
ever it was, mentally voted it pleas
ant experience, and began to pictur
to myself the being who possessed tina
wonderful voice. She was a woman
/ thought to myself--no girl could sin,
in such round, full tones-and fair
Yes, she must be; it was impossible t
fancy the possessor of such voice a
any thing but beautiful. l paced bac
and forth, with the silver tones echoin
through my brain, and it was ava
along in the "wee sma'" hours that
sought my couch, and then only t
dream of deep, dark eyes, heavil
lidded and fringed with droopin
lashes, ripe, red lips, revealing pearl
teeth and raven tresses. 1t is needles
to add that all these charms belonge
to my unknown enchantress.
A month passed away, and nigh
after night that voice came to me owe
the wires, with all the pathos an
passion of which the heart is capable
and gradually looked forward wit
almost feverish eagerness to the tim
when l could hear it, and if / hal
pened to be called away during th
night and missed the hour it came I
me, it seemed as if something was le
out of my day that could not be n
placed.
Gradually l became nervous an
pale, and people began making ii
quiries in regard to my health, and or
old friend of mine in the professio
grabbed my hand one day, and wit
his finger on my pulse, looked at m
gravely, and suggesteda tonic. di
not tell him the cause of all this lest
should take me for lunatic.
! cultivated the acquaintance of m
sicians and singers, became a regul
church attendant all in the hope
finding that voice. but in vain.
would have given worlds to have four
its possessor, and the ideal | b.
formed of her took possession of n
heart. Me-a stsid old bachelor. wi
had been welded to his profession the
many year. tried to reason myss
out Of my strange infatuation, and co
sumed more than one box of prir
"Havanss' in so doing. but to no ava
Just as would about decide to gi