Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-07-28
''That is the Apollo Belvidere. -

ciation OF the Vatican place. but he
knew that some beautiful mystery was
connected with it.
And now Dot gaZes In amazement on
the scene before him. In the blaze of
light the great organ rises respIen.
IDENTIFY, sixty feet in height, its impos-
Ing facade hiding from view its six
thousand pipes. People are hurrying
INTO the hall, fitting to and fro; young
ladies' in black silk and velvets and
satlns; old men-where were so many
women with white hair ever seen be.
fore? ,ately men with shin faces, bald,
teachers. college professors. Tiers
OF seats in the form Of half pyramid
rise at either end Of the organ. These
are filling with the chorus
and altos in black dresses and white
shawls, tenOIs and BASES in black
coats, white necktIes and kids. In
front, between the great chorus rises u
dark statue, and around this musicians
are gathering, playing on violins,
violas, violoncellos and horns; the
pyramidal seats fill; the hall over0ows;
the doors are full-ihe galleries. The
Instruments tune A dark-haired man
steps upon the conductors stand; he
raises his baton; there is hush, then a
half hundred instruments pour forth
the symphony.
Dot listens. He has never heard
such music before; he did not know
that anything ike it was ever heard on
earth. 1t grows sweeter aud sweeter.
Comfort ye.'
Did an angel speak? The instru-
ments are sweeter now.
Comfort We my people"
Did that voice come from the air?
Dot listens and wonders if this il
earth.
Comfort We, comfort ye my people
saith your God, saith your God"
Dot sees tall Inan standing alone
IN front OF the musicians-is it he that
is singing? Dot gazes upon his face
with wide eyes. 1t is he-and he is
the tenor who had befriended him the
night before.
What music followed when the cho-
rus arose and sang:
Every valley shall he exalted!'
Dot hears the grand music sweep on,
and he feels, as all feel. that the glo.
rious Messiah is about TO appear. He
sees lady in white satin and flashing
Jewels step forward; he hears ripple
of applause, and voice full of feeling
and strength sing:
80 thou tellest good tidings to Zion,
o, tLou tellest good tldings to Jerusa.
lem, say unto the cities of Judah, Be-
hold your God!"
Dot xnows that voice. VIII she in
deed lift her eyes to himp
No, she does not. She sits down,
the hall ringing with applause. She
rises. bows, but she does not look to-
wards the statue of Apollo, near which
Dot is sitting.
Dot hears dreamy music now, more
enchanting than any before it. The
great audience do not stir, or move a
fan, or raise glass. 1t grows more
ethereal; 1t seems now but wavy
motion In the air. He hears q ;sdy
near whisper:
"The Pastoral Symphony"
She also has risen again. She stands
out from the great chorus-what Il
beautiful figure! The dark-haired man
lifts his baton, the lady turns her face
toward the upper gallery. Her eyes
wander for moment; they rest OIL
Dot.
There was no applause now. Tears
stood in the altos eyes-tears stood in
the eyes of every one. There was a
deep hush and tears, and in the silence
the alto stood looking steadily at-Dot.
There was rustic In the hall-it
grew. The silence was followed by
commotion that seemed TO rock the
hall. The applause gathered a force
like tempest.
Then the beautiful lady looked to-
wards Dot, and sang again the same
wonderful air, and all the hall grew
still, and peoples eyes were wet again.
The Hallelujah shorus with its grand
fugues was sung, the people rising and
standing with bowed heads during the
majestic outpouring of praise.
1t is ended now, faded and gone.
The great organ stands silent IN the
dark hall; the coaches have rolled away.
the clocks are striking midnight.
81 have come to congratulate you
before retiring," said our tenor to the
alto, as he stepped into the parlor at
the Revere House. "To-night has
been the triumph of your life. Nothing
so moved the audience as "He shall
feed his flock like shepherd"
'Do you know to what L owed the
feeling thu. so inspired me in that alr?"
mo"
''It was poor little Dot in the gallery.
You teach music, do you notp"
"Yes."
"You are about to open schoolr"
"Yes.n
'sGlye Dot place as Office boy
errand boy-something. 1t will lift
weight from my heart"
az had thought of 1t. He has
beautiful voice"
81 might get him place in a choir
Fifteen years have passed. The old
Handel and Haydn Society have sung
''The Messiah" fifty, perhaps sixty
times. The SHOWS of December are
again on the hills. The grand oratorio
is again rehearsing for the Sabbath
evening before Christmas.
A new tenor is TO sing on the ocea-
sion he was born in Boston, has
studied In Milan, and has achieved
great trlumphs as an interpreter oil
sacred music in London and Berlin.
The old hall is filed again. Tie
symphony has begun its dulcet en-
chantment; the tenor, with aface lumi-
nous and spiritual, arises, and with his
first notes thrills the audience and holds
it as by spell.
"Comfort ye."
He thought of the time when he first
heard those words. He thought OF the
hearts whose kindness had made aim Il
singer, Where were they? Their voices
had vanished from the choirs of earth.
but in spirit those sweet singers seemed
hovering around him.
''Comfort We my people,"
He looked, too, towards the Apollo
on the wall. He recalled the limp bel
lows boy who sat there sixteen years
ago. How those words then comrvrted
himl How he loved to sing them now!
sSpeak We comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare Is
accomplished. that her iniquity is par
Iaaol "