Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1891-03-28
s,,A!. ?..I,v,. E.,.'ly.
By HENRY HARLAND.
copyright. All rights reserved.l


CHAPTER ~.
LISTENING.
Ono afternoon q week or 80 later
while was at work washing my brushes
In my studio somebody began to sing in
the room above. The voice was ferni.
nine, q deep and sweet contralto, and ]
took for granted that the singer must be
Miss Eczardy. ! listened with good
deal Of interest. as well as a good
deal of pleasure, for beside that the voice
was in itself agreeable the song she sang
seemed to me to be very curious as well
as very pretty. Though the words, Of
course, were quite indistinguishable
guessed that it was Russian song, per-
haps folk song. 1t had much of that
savage impetuosity of rhythm and that
almost barbaric brilliancy of color which
we feel in some of the compositions Of
Rubinstein. 1t was swift, merry, jubi-
liant even, in its movement; yet pro-
longed minor wall seemed to run all
through it, giving a secondary effect of
sorrow. Here and there would occur a
repetend, consisting of succession of
tense high notes; every new departure and
variation Of the tune always finished by
bringing UP at this same repetend; the
influence of it upon the hearer was very
strange. 1t sounded like hilarious laugh
ter, yet at the same time it sounded like
wild, passionate sobbing, and it moved
the hearer at once to pain and to pleas.
ure in a way that was very strange.
Gradually as l listened the rhythm
appeared to become more regular, the
eccentricity of the melody to moderate
a little. "It begins" l thought, ''to re-
semble something that have heard be-
fore. What? All. remember; it is a
good deal like that song Of Garments
whereby poor Don Jose is made to lose
his heart to her. There is the same
effective use of the chromatic scale. She
does it beautifully. Ishould immensely
like to see her. can fancy the way her
eye flashes, the way her cheek flushes
She must be pretty. No woman could
sing with so much fire and spirit unless
she were pretty Hello! what is this?'
The floor over my head had begun to
vibrate to the measure of dance; the
singer had begun to dance in time to her
music. It struck me all at once that
this was ittie singular. Could Miss
Eczardy not only sing but dance with
her father i'll unto death in the next-or.
for all / knew, in the same-room?
was pondering this enigma in my mind
when somebody raped upon my door.
Come in" called.
The exterminator entered. He en-
tered on tiptoe, as if fearful Of making
the least noise, and with his finger
raised, his lips pursed and his brows
Knitted, as if to enjoin silence upon me
as well. looked up, puzzled, and wait
ed for him to vouchsafe an explanation.
He advanced very close to me, when,
bending forward, and protecting his
mouth with the open palm of his hand,
he demanded in a whisper: "Eh, you
hear that?'
"Yes, hear it," confessed.
"Wc!l. the ole feller-you know. the
ole feller, her fazair?"
Eyes. Well? What about himg"
"Well, he feel better. Ca va mieux.
You onderstand?'
"Ah, that's it, is it?" l exclaimed.
"Dr. Eczardy feels better, and hisdaugh-
ter celebrates his improvement with Il
song and dance"
"Yes, that's it. She sing and dance
for him, and that show he feel better
Whenever . feel pretty good Railways e
mex her to sing and dance. Helike it."
"Well he may. She has sweetvoice
and she sings with spirit.
"Yes, you right; she sing first class.
Bot you hought to see her dance. She
dance! Eh, never seen anybody dance
like her. 1t is magnificent. | go op
stairs now to congratulate them, be-
cause o feel better, you understand.
Then mebbe they hask me to walk in
side and mex visit. Then mebbe she
90 hon to dance, and set there and see
her 1t is as good as u theatre. 1t is
wors five dollars. Well, goo-by."
And waving his bediamonded old claw
at me he accomplished his exit. felt
as though should not at all object to
following him. l was beginning to be
nightly interested in Miss Eczardy;
and l am sure snould have surpassed
the exterminator himself in apprecia-
ton Of her dancing if |, too, had been