St. Landry democrat., 1886-12-25

'ol1, luActt " 90 HilnSeI. May would De
l there and he wanted to show her how little
: he cared for her-he would sit with Alice
1 Baker and see her home
But Alice Baker was not tJnre Pretty
5 Kate Blossom was as ssucv ard pi5uant as
ever, and May Allen looking more COM
posed and happy than he had seen her for
some time. He tried in vain to guess tho
reason why.
lie would have snccrcd had he known
He was not accustomed to square his own
lie by principle, and he could not under
stand 1t in others. If he had known that
May had taken her mothers advice, and de-
ternlned to bide patiently until there came
some way out of her trouble he would have
called it cant" But in the very act Of
submission there came to the girls sorrow
ing heart message Of peace ard goodwill,
and half of its heavy load was lifted by in
visible hands. That was the peace past I'M
derstanding which shone in her face and
attracted Hiram Wright
The church service was a pretty choral
rite that was simply commemorative Of the
season All the young people who had
helped in decorating the cdifice were pres
ent to admire the effect, and large as
scmbly Of others who never failed to attend
| on Christmas eve. The pretty-stuined
| glass, the evergreen trimmings. tic boy
| chorlsters, the Christmas music this year
outrlValIed any previous occasion. Peace
| on earth, good will to men ran through
| every soul present as an anthem Of future
| promise. After the bcnedictiOn, as the
| congregation rose to dispcrse d grand vol
| untary sang out from the organ. May at
| once recognized the exaltations Of the nu-
sic, and she whispered to Kate Blossom:
Too bad. they should not have let Maui
rice come: it eXcites him SO much. and he
| always fails to carry out the last score; he
will create a discordn
But this time there was no hesitating, no
false notes or futile efforts after lost
chords. With a practced hand he played
on and on and the people stopped to listen,
until at last, in one magnificent diapason of
harmony, the music faded into melodious
silence.
No one broke that sacred stiffness by
words of praise then. Afterwards they
said it was Of more than mortal sweetness
and grandeur. May alone FASTENED to con-
graduate the musician, but he was gone
already when she reached the organ loft.
For moment she waited; the score of the
music lay on the rack before her, but of !.
the player there was no more sign than if |
he mad been waited away with one of his /
own celestial strains.
He has gone down the other stairs"
she thought, ION purpose to avoid me. Oh,
KY dear, would not have complained to-
L ght. |, too, am muslc-mad"
All in moment she stood in dark
cess; the church lights We're out, and the
door closing.
''Hiram,' she called, in sudden terror. as
she saw the dark face of her rejected lover
for moment; he paused and looked at her.
BY the lantern on the snow, she saw him
smile, forb.dding, sneering, vindictive.
Don't leave me here she cried. You
dare not" But the heavy door was
closed and locked while she was speaking.
She flew to the windows, shrieking
'Helpt help!" but no one heard her. Then
It occurred to her that it was only Joke
hiram had locked her ill., not unwilling that
she should have a fright, but he would
soon come back and release her-that he
could dare to leave her there for the night
was too horrible. Why, the fright Of it
would kill her by morning!
Then she sat down in one of the peWs and !
.ried to think what she should do.
They would not miss her, because each
would think she was with the other Her
mother would worry little, but as the
hight wore on, she would believe her safe
It home with Kate Blossom or Alice Baker.
1t was not cold. A great fire had been
made in the furnace in the basement and
he heat was almost intense but it was
rearily lonely. May would have given
much for the company of that church
mousse the girls had been laughing about.
rom time to time there were threatening ,
discs, as some STRAIGHTFORWARD pew ,
roaned in fiber, or the floors gave back ,
ONE echo that had fingered in them. But
,1,- +bnI l,oc |
laurice playing! soft, sweet and steady {
he tones rolled in subdued grandeur I
trough the silent church. Spell bound,
lay sat and listened. y
1t was Maurice Dawson who was play /
lg, not the mad musician, but the former !
[aurice, clothed and in his right mind, /
'ho, in finding the last chord of Christ /
las music, had also found himself. He
ad hurried to May as soon as church was c
yer that evening, but, somehow, had d
lssed her, and, when he went to her Y
ONE, was told that she must have gone to y
pend the night with Kate :
Then, restless, impe,led by some urging q
brit that was not one of the capricious =
ncies that had lately held him in thrall, .
1t a sane and earnest desire to once more u
st the wonderful production he had given
the world, he went to the church, and, Il
ltering by way he knew of, sought his /
,loved instrument, to find that it was. in b
ed, a reality he had found, and, inn b
'soned in its letters of sweet sound, the
st chord He played with the rapture of Il
and, when he had finished, lifted 4
5 eyes and saw May standing beside him. st
When Hiram Wright heard the bells Ii
aling forth the Christmas chimes he :
vered his head and trembled like guilty u
ing. Would the old sexton hear her and J..
) her out from that ghostly imprison- a nt
7nts No, for he had the key. He did not -
ed that to climb 10 the lell-tn1rnr Sloan ~