The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1889-03-23

| suited to show OIL his vigorous inquire
and fine face that John wished himself
an artist, so that he might make study OF
so clean and picturesque sub. ect.
Yet it would have been more to the
purpose had he been linguist, be-
cause then he could have answered
the sailor, who seemed to be in doubt
about the road. 1t would, however,
have been of no use to have understood
Spanish, the sailors command OF that
language being even more limited than
Johns was. But the sailor stammered
along, until John betook himself to his
own language, aud said he was an
American, and spoke only English. At
this the sailor smiled, seeming well
pleased, but he replied in German. Then
they looked at each other and laughed,
and began to walk on side by side. OF
course they talked, and were very polite
to each other, and seemed amused and
pleased to be together, so 1t mattered
little that they did not understand each
other. But this will happen when talk
crs speak the same language, and even
if we use the best English there are
times when our nearest friends do not
comprehend US, and their Interpretation
of what we say is astonishing and not to
be believed.
But these two young fellows had no
fear of being misunderstood, fancying
that neither was understood at all. They
told each other stories, and laughed to-
gether, and pointed out what they
liked, and grumbled over what they did
not. They gathered chestnuts and
acorns as two children might, and about
noon they lunched together under the
shadow of rock on which a pine-trce
grew. When they opened their KNAPP
sacks, and one brought out olives to eat
with their bread and cheese, each nodded
approval, and like good fellows made
free of each others provision, being sure
of welcome. Then the sailor took up
some salt and laid it in the palm of his
hand, and John, taking pinch from it,
the two of them ate salt together, and
the German embraced the American, and
they both again laughed. But really the
air was so exhilarating, and they were
both so young, and full of vitality and
happiness, that they laughed as babies
cry. because it was the thing they could
most easily do.
Whether the sailors road was the
same as his own, John did not know;
but they kept on together, going steadily
southwest toward the city of Granada,
but being still two days journey away
from it. When the sun had turned to-
ward the west, and all the shadows
pointed east, the sailor began to sing.
His voice was barytone, but it was so
high that had an Italian singing master
had the training of it, he would have
pulled it up into a tenor. He would
have done this because the italian of to-
day scorns the medium registers, and
would rather sing high than sing well.
But John pricked up his ears TO hear the
song. 1t was old enough, and was plain
" enough suggested bv the scenery, and
it was very well sung indeed, although it
was written for the Zerlina CT ezra Dia-
volo." who is not usually baryIone
Suddenly he paused, looked up at the
sun, and said "Es list drei Uhr zwanzig
Minuten. Otis twenty minutes past
three.
He was not proud of his voice, but he
was of his skill in telling the hour by the
sun.
But John understood it as q challenge.
and he at once took up the air and
carried it on.
And they understood each others
operate Italian.
Johns voice was a good clear tenor,
and when he took his high notes with a
fine flourish of his arm, who ever ap-
plauded prima donna as the sailor did
John? and they nodded and smiled in
great glee. So then they quit ezra Dia-
volo," and the sailor broke into the duet
between Lionel and Plunkett: and thus
the two road mates sang much of the
opera OF martha" to the rocks of Anda-
lusia. But what entertained them best
was the discovery that they could sing
TO each other what they could not say.
When the sailor thought to compliment
John by Good Save the KIM Lohn