Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1891-03-28

The men sat down. The boy stood
with his back against the door, twirl-
ing shabby Tam O'Shanter in pair
of nervous hands, and out of the little
room foated voice, pure, silvery, un-
faltering-such a voice as neither of
those two men had ever heard in that
room before. Through all the delicious
measures of that Incompatible melody
it rose and fell, and when at last it
died out in wavy cadences, the tenor
glanced toward his friend with some
thing like very tears shining in his eyes,
and the friend, jumping to his feet, ex-
claimed in nervous haste:
81 know he's your friend, Billy, but
I must share him. want him for my
choir Wouldn't you like to sing in a
choir boy?"
Eyes, sir"
Anthony's face became crimson with
delight, and the poor old Tam 0'Shan-
ter suffered more than ever at his
hands.
II go to the Advent every Sunday
I've picked up lots of things they sing
there"
"only there? Have you had no other
training?"
"Oh, yes, good deal from my IA
ther, but he died more than year ago,
just after we came to this country.
There are only mother and me left,
and I've been out of a jSb for over a
week"
"Well, Mr.. Whiting here will soon
give you new one," the tenor said.
will you put him among the re-
serves, Whiting?' ....
"With that voice? No. He can go
in almost at once have two vacan-
cies anyway. The last was that little
Scott Payne boy. He died on Satur-
day"
"Whatl Mrs. John Scott Payne's boy?
Why, he's all she had"
"Yes; like this little chap. He was
the only son of his mother, and she a
widow-but under nightly different
circumstances"
"Ah, well, well! All her ducats can't
mend a broken heart and she will have
that, know. He was such noble,
gentlemanly lad"
Eyes, and fine voice. I have missed
him badly, but think with very little
And so it came to pass that before
Johnnie Scott-Payne had been a month
in his little grave at Mt. Autu urn,
Anthony Kramer was singing in his
stead at the Church of the Nativity; and
while Johnnie's mother wandered
through the desolate rooms of the cost
ly house which she no longer called a
home, finding comfort nowhere, An
thongs mother, selling small wares be-
hind the counter of a little shop on Win
ter street, rejoiced unspeakably that
her boy had SO providentially found his
vocation.
She had no doubt whatever as to it's
being his rightful vocation, for, though
she herself was quite as gently born as
Mrs. Scott-Payne, and had lived in the
purple till she had lost her heart to her
young music master and fed with him
from all the associations of her youth,
the music master had come of family
who were all musicians, and, unprofit-
able as the profession had proved to
her throughout her married life, she
had never lost faith in it. Anthony had
been named for the father whom she
had deserted, but her father died with
out forgiving her and leaving all his
wealth to distant relatives; so, having
only his name as an heritage from his
mothers side of the house, it seemed
but fitting that the boys living should
come to him by means of the gift
which had descended to him in such
liberal proportions from his father and
his fathers people.
AS the winter wore on it became
more and more apparent to the poor
young thing that this gift would soon
be the sole possession of doubly
orphaned life, for she had never been
robust, and New England climate
made rapid inroads upon her feeble
remnant of strength, and the coming of
the foe who robs and desolates and
rever restores seemed to be mere
question of time. For herself she had
no dread of his coming, but her heart
was sore at the thought of parting with
her boy, and, however hard she tried to
nerve herself for the effort, she lacked
courage to warn him of the trial in store
for him.
In the old days he might have guessed
it for himself; but he was SO happy and
! busy now, basking in the sunshine OF
his benefactor's increasing approval,
earning a steady income among the
fraternity Of which the kindly tenor
was but one, and throwing himself with
boyish fervor into his choir work. that he
never noticed how the pretty, pale face
OF his mother was growing daily paIei
and thinner, or if he did notice it, he
Quilted himself by thinking: 'Even il
she isn't quite as strong as she used To
be, I'm growing stronger all the time,
and by and by she needD t work at all. y
For a long while after his father had
been taken from them, the world had
seemed to the poor little fellow very
full of death and sorrow, but now, re-
joicing as he did in the new conditions
4 of his life almost the only time the old