The morning call., 1891-06-14
SPIRIT MUSIC
IN THE AIR.
Odd and Weird Fancy Of the Late French
Novelist, AllhOnSG Kari.
A Strange Compact Made by Musician With
His Dying Wife-Death Amid Flowers
and Celestial Harmony.

gagged, and yet they were going to be sep
arated the next day. R0dolphe was to de-
part for distant province. For two years
he was to take lessons there of an able mas
ter; then, on his return, Berthe's father
would resign to him his position of chapel
master and would give him his daughter.
Berthe" said RudOlphe, 'let us play
once again together that air you like so
much. When we are separated, at the
close of day, the hour of grave thoughts. we
will play our parts and that will bring US
nearer to each other"
Berthe took her harp Rodolphe accom-
panied her with his flute, and they played
Berthe's favorite air several times. When
they had finished they wept and kissed;
Rodolphe departed.
They were faithful to their promise.
Every evening, at the hour when they had
seen each other for the last time, Berthe
seated herself at her harp, Redolphe took
his flute. and they played their parts. That
hour of the evening is solemn and mys-
FERROUS. 1t irresistiDly induces reyerie
Amid the ruddy yapors that mount to the
horizon one seems to see appear. living and
animated, all his souvenirs, all his days,
some laughing ana crowned with roses.
Others pale and shrouded ia Grape. At that
hour the last culver of the wind among the
leaves seems TO modulate the airs to which
we attach sweet and sad memories. Music
is the voice of the soul.
Occasionally RodOlDhe paused ne seemed
to hear the vibrations of Berthe's harp min
gle with the sounds Of his flute. Two years
passed thus
One evening Berthe was with her father
beneath the arbor of their little garden.
That Dor was formed by FIVE acacias that
interlOcked overheard their foliage and their
white aud perfumed ft0wer-ciusters; be-
tween the acacas dark green liiacs filled up
the empty spaces with their abundant
leaves; three or four honeysuckes climbed
about the acacias and allowed long, bloom
ing garlands to hang down.
THROUGH THE NARROW ENTRANCE
To the arbnr a band of purple. produced by
the reflections of the setting sun, was visible
at the horizon. 1t was the hour sacred to
souvenirs; Berthe was playing her favorte
air upon the harp, but suddenly she stopped
TO listen.
ceased to agitate the foliage. Berthe re-
commenced the air and again she heard
ROdOlphe'S flute accompanying her.
1t was RodOlphe, who had returned.
Two years afterward ROdolphe and Berthe
possessed a charming little daughter, the
cherished fruit of a union that Berthe's
father had blessed before drawing his 6nal
the income of his position gave the two
young people an ample competency.
R0dulphe had purchased a pretty little
house. Behind it was thick grove of lin
dens, in front of it green lawn upon which
the child rolled aud tumbled. The white
walls were covered with tall Bengal rose
bushes, and besides everything was closed
so tighlly-there was not the slightest crack
in the doors through which glance fro III
without could penetrate; happy people are
difficult of access.
Then the infant died and Berthe expired
OF grief few monthSa fterward.
When she felC her end approaching she
said to Rodolphe:
I'm vain have l sought to proloBg my ex-
istence by my prayers; l must TeJOin our
child; / must abandon you and wait for you
in better life. If the dead nave power to
reappear upon the earth you will see me
again; my shade viii wander about you, for
my heaven is the place where my Rodolphe
is. When the day shall arrive in which we
can be reunited | will come TO seek you, and
our two souls, melted together, shall rise on
high, no more to descend upon earth, where
they will not have single tie. Every year,
on my birthday, happy or unhappy, beloved
or abandoned, sad or gay, at the hour of
sunset. at the hour when prayers ascend to
heaven with the sounds of the evening be IL
and the perfume the flowers exhale before
closing their challces, play the air thaS has
so long charmed for us the grief of absence,
the sole consolation that Will remain to you
in very long separation. That music will
be more harmonious TO my soul than
THE CONCERTS OF THE sERAPHIM."
Then she kissed him and died.
R0dolphe lost his mind. They made him
travel for some time. On his return his
head was more calm but somber melan-
choly took possession OF him and did not
quit him. He shut himself up Ia his house :;
4 .
leave it; would not go anywhere. He left
BertheS room as it had been at the mo-
ment Of her death, the bed still unmade, the
harp in the corner.
When Berthe's birthday arrived, he put
on his best garments, thing he had not
before done. He filled the room with
flowers; and when evening came he shut
himself up there and played upon the flute
the air they had so often played together.
The next day they found him stretched
out stiff upon the floor When he recovered
consciousness he had again lost his mind; it
was once more necessary to make him
travel. At the expiration Of a year he re.
turned to his house; his brain appeared to
be re-established, only he was sad and
silent,
Again Berthe's birthday arrived. He
filed her room with fresh flowers, aud
toward evening he shut himself up. dressed
as on his wedding-day. Then he played
Il
The following day they again found him
extended on the floor.
But when they strOye to take him away he
said coldly that if they did not leave him IN
the house where his wife had died he would
kill himself. They deemed it advisable to
yield to hun. the more SO as his reason did
not appear to have been shaken by this new
accident.
Now this is what happened to him:
On the first anniversary, as soon as he had
begun to play, the strings of the harp had
vibrated and of themselves accompanied
the fu.e.
When he had paused the sound Of the
harp had paused also.
On the second anniversary, thinking he
had been the victim of an illusion, lie re-
commenced and the harp played its part
He ceased and the sound Of the harp
ceased He placed his hand upon the
strings and his hand felt
THE LAST VIBRATION OF THOSE STRINGS.
On both occasions he had fallen, stricken
with terror, and had passed the night in a
deep Swo0n. But he at last became habItu-
ated to this violent motion and found in it
only sort of poignant pleasure.
All his evenings and the greater part of
his nights were passed thus. His cheeks
grew hollow, his eyes alone seemed living
in the depths of their orbits and shoue with
a supernatural brilliancy. He no longer
fer
A friend. whom chance or a faulty of
eonstancy had preserved for him In his mis-
fortune, became alarmed and sought to dis
cover what Rodolphe did in that chamber.
He said that he played the flute and that
Berthe's shade played the harp; that death
was really the commencement of another
life; that in proportion as he felt himself
dying, he felt himself living more intimately
with his vile whom he had loved so much;
that during this mysterious harmony which
he heard every evening he seemed to see
Berthe at her harp; that he was happy /;
that he desired nothing more and demanded
nothing more either of heaven or men.
1t was the third anniversary of Berthe's
birth. Rodolphe again filed the chamber
with flowers; he himself was furnished
with a bouquet. He had strewn the bed
of the dead woman with roses picked to
pieces.
Then. at sunset, he took his fate and
Dlavnd BertIe's air.