Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-11-21
.TaE DIVORCE MARCH"
An Ex-wife Who Tells Her story on
the TeII-Tale Keyboard

One fine morning the younger woman
was walking past the little house with
a roll of music in her hand, when she
heard a melody from the piano coming
through the open window. Something
in the piece and the way The piano WAS
handled attracted the girls attention,
aud she stopped and listened. She
grew so much interested that she be-
came bold enough 10 ask an old woman
standing IN the door, who lived In the
house, who was playing y converse
ton followed, the result OF which was
the young lady found herself IN hve
minutes III the parlOr and talking with
the player at the piano.
please tell me" she said, what
that piece was!
.'Oh, it was nothing much. 1 often
improyise as play. My fingers follow
my fancy, as 1 suppose IS the case with
everybody"
II can't think that was improyised.
IL was too good"
..Well. YOU mustn't laugh when
tell you that piece is really my own
composition, though not note of It
has ever been written down. L some
how fird myself playing it very often
1 hardly know why, L call 1t the 'Di-
yorce March,"
The divorce Marcl?' Heavens,
what 4 name for piece of musicl''
Its peculiar fancy, 1 know. but
| it's my own. Don't think badly Of me
for it.''
Il couldn't do that. It's very beau
| tiful. Play it again"
Her long, shapely fingers swept over
the keys III delicious prelude, which
led up to the composition proper. 1t
was hard for the young girl, IN telling
| about it afterwards, 10 describe what
she heard. The way she interpreted it
| was this: Bars upon bars of beautiful
| descriptive passages seemed TO speak OF
| beautiful spring weather, nature in her
| finest dress, the trees full of foliage,
flowers blooming, soft winds blowing,
rippling streams. and all that sort of
| thing. She fancied she could hear the
song of birds in the DOughs, and an
| sweTs coming back. THIS was youth
| in full glow, and the tender, joyous,
| and sometimes eXuberant, dialogue
| that followed was surely two happy
| people talking and telling of things that
lie mighty deep in these human natures
of ours. and which cannot be found out
by superficial examination. 1t was
| something of love. The melody went
on, rippingly beautiful, now deeper.
| now lighter in its go, changing occas-
ionally in time and key, with a notice
| able Introduction here and there of j
harsh bar or two, the memory of which,
however, was swept out of the mind by
the grand dialogues and duets that fol-
lowed, tull of harmony and life. Those
people were happy. Further on, faint
| ly at first. were fragments of soft
marches, bits of melody resembling the
! famous MendelSsohn and ''Lohengrin''
! wedding marches, familiar to every
body, but not exactly like them. Here
was wedding day. The characteris-
J tic quality of the piece had been devel-
a oping slowly. Now comes, in slow
time, one of the softest, most moving
/ lullabys the girl had ever heard. The
pathoS of the player, she said, was Won
| derful from the first moment she touch
ed that lullaby. 1t thrilled her, but
she could not describe it. She fancied
all sorts OF things; the rocking of a
| cradle, the cooling of babe, love and
tears and anxiety of the mother mixed.
signs, infant smiles and what not,
The march swept on, its distinguishing
paris coming out clearer and clearer;
crashes of discOrd, little quarrels and
maklngs up, pleadings III the minor
| key, glorious bursts of sunshine and
| sudden dOwnpour of storm, ending in a
steady, solemn march of separation
an impressive, gloomy thing, that died
! away like the sound of the footsteps OF
two people retreating sadly further and
| further from eaCa other, never to come
together again. 1t seemed all done
when softly there arose out of the sad.
ness that delicious lullaby, touching,
pathetic, fearful. 1t went on little
and faded away in sweetness.
| When 1t was finished and the player.
hands dropped from the keys the two
women clasped each other like children
about the neck and sobbed as if thell
hearts would break.
| That's the story of my life in ont
shape" sad the older, ''and somehow
that's why L play 1t 50 often. 1 LOVED
my husband, God knows. L wanted I
cultivated man and L was disappointed
l could have borne everything for m,
child's sake, but the court gave her L
him and l aIa wretched. That lullab,
IS my child's voice. The Judge said
couldn't take care of it. I'm so poor
you see. and lie is rich"