Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-03-02

to know that he cannot help her. The
God told Leo in those last months OF
all that she had said and done among
the wives and the babies at the back of
the roadside performances, and Leo
was astonished that he knew 80 littl OF
her who had been so much to him.
When she was dying she told him never
to fight for pence or quarrel with the
other singers; and, above all, to go on
with his singing Immediately after she
WAS dead.
Then she died, and after he had
buried he vent down the road to II vii
lage that he knew, and the people hoped
that he would begin quarrelling with
new singer that had sprung up while
he had been away. But Leo called him
''my brother" The new singer was
newly married-and Leo knew it-and
when he had finished singing Leo
Strengthened himself, and sang the
"Song of the Girl, which he had made
coming down the road. Every man
who was married or hoped TO be mar
ried, whatever his rank or color, un-
derstood that song-even the bri lie
learning on the new husbands arm IN
derstood it too-and I resently when
the song ended, and Leo's heart was
'That was sad tale" they said at last.
snow make us laugh" Because Leo
had known all the sorrow that man
could know, including the full knowl-
edge of Lis own fall who had once been
a God-he, changing his song quickly,
made the peo Jle laugh till they could
laugh no more. They went away feel
ing ready for any trouble i'll reason,
l nd nnQRneE
, feathers and pence than he could count.
Knowing that pence led to quarrels and
that peacock's feathers were hateful to
the Girl he put them aside and went
away to look for his brothers to re-
mind them that they too were Gods.
I He found the Bull, goring the under
! growth In a ditch, for the Scorpion had
stung him, and he was dying, not slow
| ly, as the Girl, had died, but quickly.
II know ALL" the Bull groaned, as
Leo came up. 81 had forgotten too,
but / remember now. Go and look at
the fields L ploughed. The burrows
are straight. L forgot that 1 was
God, but drew the plough perfectly
straight, for all that. And you,
| brother?"
81 am not at the end of the plough
! ing" said Leo. "Does Death hurt"
"No, but dying does" said the Bull,
and he died. The cultivator who then
owned him was much annoyed, for
there was a field still unploughed.
| 1t was after this that Leo made the
! Song cf the Bull who had been God
and forgotten the fact, aud lie sang it
| in such a manner that half the young
J men in the world conceived that they
too might be Gods without knowing it.
A half of that half grew impossibly
conceited, and died early. A half of
the remainder strove to be Gods and
failed, but the other half accomplishe
! four times more work than they would
have done under any other delusion.
Later, years later, always wandering
up and down, and making the children
| of men laugh, he found the Twins sit
ting on the bank of stream waiting
| for the Fishes to come and carry them
away. They were not in the ] asst
afraid, and they told Leo that the wo-
man of the House had a real baby of
her own and that when that baby grew
old enough TO be mischievous he would
find well-educated cat waiting to
have its tail pulled. Then the Fishes
came for them, but all that the people
saw was two children drown ed in q
brook; and though their foster mother
was very sorry, she hugged her own
real baby to her breast and was CRATE
full that 1t was only the foundlings.
Then Leo made The Song of the
Twins, who had forgotten that they
were Gods, and had played in the dust
to amuse foster-mother. That song
was sung far and wide among the women.
1t caused them to laugh and cry and
hug their babies closer to their hearts
all in one breath; and some of the wo-
men who remembered the Girl said
''Sureiy that is the voice of Virgo.
Only she could know SO much about
ourselves.
After those three songs were made,
Leo sang them over and over again
till he was in danger oflooking upon them
as so many mere words, and the peo
pie who listened grew tired, and there
came back to Leo the old temptation
to stop singing once for all, and never
to make another Joke. But he remem-
bered the Girls dying words and per.
sisted.
One of his listeners interrupted him
as he was singing, Leo, sal he, 81
have heard you telling us not to be
afraid for the past forty years, Can
you not sing something new now?"
"No," said Leo, sit is the only song
that I am allowed to sing. You musi
not be afraid of the Houses, even when
they kill you." The man turned to go,
wesrlly, but there came a whistling
through the air, aDd the arrow of the
Archer was seen skimming low above
the earth, pointing to the mans heart
He drew himself up, and stood still
waiting till the arrow struck home.
al die," he said quietly. sit is vel
for me, Leo, that you sang for forty
years
"Are you afraid?" said Leo bending
over him.
81 am a man, not a God, said the
, man. "I should have run away bu
for your Songs. My work is done,
and die without making a show o
my fear"
himself. "Now that / see what my
, songs are doing, l will sing better
} ones"
He went down the road, collected
his little knot of listeners, and began
the Song of the Girl In the middle o
his singing he felt the cold touch o.
the Crabs claw on the apple of hi
throat. He lifted his hand, choked
and stopped for an instant.
, Sing on Leo, said the crowd. "Tht
, old song runs as well as ever it did.
Leo went on steadily till the end will
the cold fear at his heart. When tn
5 song was ended, he felt the grip on hi
throat tighten. He was old, he ha'
| lost the Girl, he knew that he losing
more than half bis power to sing, h
5 couli scarcely walk to the diminishing
crowds that waited for him, and coul'
not see their faces when they stoot
3 about him. None the less, he crie'
angrily to the Crab
"Wby have you come for me nol0."
"You were born under my care
, How can 1 help coming for youP" sal