The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1888-07-07

VIII.
Two days later Lord Melliyan's
yacht steamed from the port, its yards
apeak, It's color await, and its stern
draped with black flag. In the cabin
where Stenio had agreed to give back
Maud dead to the father from whom
he had taken her living. Daisy and
Harriet wept near coffin surrounded
with lights and covered with flowers.
The vessel sailed slowly as If 1t bore
unwillingly its funeral burden. The
crew on the deck was motionless and
silent. The sea was as smooth as a
lake, as IL to lull more gently Maud's
last slumber.
At the moment the yacht crossed
the bar boat appeared behind it and
In its wake followed 1t toward the open
sea. Two men only were in tia fish
erman who rowed vigorously, for there
was not breath Of wind to ill his
sails. and passenger dressed in black,
who sat in the bow and supported his
head on his hand. A dull murmur
ran through the crowd collected at the
foot Of the lighthouse, name pass
ed from mouth TO mouth-"Ma-
rackzy'-and again, as If before a
second corpse, every head was uncov-
cred.
Stenio seemed neither to see nor TO
hear. He was obliyious to everything
around him. His face was turned to-
ward the yacht which bore from him
all that he had loved on .earth. And
faithfully, irresistibly, he followed
without knowing whether his course
led him, as IL an invisible cord attach
ed him to that somber craft, every turn
of whose screw was pang to his
heart
Little by little the distance between
the yacht and the boat increased. Like
great seabird which spread its wings
and lightly skins the waves the yacht
commenced TO draw rapidly away.
Marackzy arose TO obtain better view
and stood outlined against the clear
background Of the horizon, his violin
in his hand.
Bareheaded, under the sun, with i'm
mensity around him, as IL he thought
the dead could still hear him, he began
TO play. The atmosphere was so calm
that people on the shore could distinct
ly hear him, And pure as q prayer,
"The Song of the Swan" ran over the
waves and assembled toward the sky.
Never had adieus TO earth been ut
tered with an expression SO poignant.
Ii was not the violin that wept, IL was
Stenio's heart itself. His grief, his
despair, his sobs resounded in these
heart breaking notes. Around this
desolate being the sea gulls turned in
giddy circles.
The yacht plowed on, and already in
the distance its smoke alone remained
distinct. The sailor rowed with all
his strength, listening to Stenio with
only needless ear. From the land
the boat seemed but speck upon the
water. With his eyes fixed on the
point where the yacht was losing IT.
self In space, Stenio still played. Sud.
denly the smoke, thin trace, melted
and disappeared. The sound of the
violin ceased with note as doleful AS
sob, and the only sound that broke
the heavy silence was the measured
cadence of the oars.
Astonished, the boatman turned his
head. The bow Of the boat was empty,
and he could see nothing on the water.
He called. No voice responded. Then
slowly he turned toward the shore.
Stenio's body was never found.
Some favorable current had undoubt-
edly carried the great musician to the
blue grottos. at the threshold OF which
the clamors of the waves expire, and
where, In the silence OF the profound
seas, the divine syrens sing eternal
peace.