The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-11-19

~ ~ I.Ot eAN
all the rest lie. pain sailing"
Tho speaker, Michael Ivanovitch
Petroff, was o low-sized, stout, fair
haired man of about "a, one of those
unconscious idealists often to be found
in Russia, who are never so happy as |
when they r getting a friend out of
O difficulty or helping him to q tri-
umph. His companion, a clerk, like
himself, in the service of the Ministry
of Vladimir Skripkin, and although a
handsome-looking man of some 30
years, or thereabouts, gave one the
Impression that he belonged to the
pitlable category Of will-'ass indivi-
duals who stink through Ii! as noise
lessly as they can, content IL they get
in nobody's way, and positively happy
il they manage to keep body and soul
together without suffering the pangs
of hunger or the pains of imprisonment.
Skripkin had been to the university,
but only for q few months having
been found present at an illegal meet
ing of the students, whittier he had
strayed by the merest Of accidents, he
was rusticated for q year, and
returned. In the government Office he
was probably the most industrious and
conscientious of all the clerks, never
refusing to take all maner Of extra
work, to which he occasionally devoted
his evenings. AT home he was a must
clan; that is to say, having been &C.
customed to play the piano since he
was 8 or 8, he had acquired o thorough
command over the keys, and could
execute almost anything, from a waltz
of Strauss to q moroccan of T~shaikoff-
sky's, with a degree of correctness and
sentiment which was highly c%reditable
in q petty tshinovnik who received but
80 roubles @ month. He also composed
various dances and r%everies but, with
!. the solitary exception of q polka,
lEipted at his friend Petroff's expense,
e of them had yer been ever
n Ned ut by q publisher. His one aim
was hat make no noise or fuss,
e never suspected that nature
. part On the stage Of life.
His old friend Petroff, who had been
transferred from Moscow to Kieff but
peter. He had u%nbounded faith in
S~kripkin's genius, and had told his
colleagues over and over again hat il
he only got q chance to show what was
in him Beethoven and Wagner could
not hold Il candle to him.
"Talk about Tshaikoifsky, Cui and
that lot" he would say, "why, il
Skripkin had a fair start nobody would
dream Of mentioning his name with
theirs in the same breath"
The chance did come at last, and
when least expected. One nigh,
Skripkin was invited to play at a soiree
dansante given by one his colleagues
who IA glad Of getting it lone gratis
and his success was unparalleled. The
strongest superlatives were lavished
by the company. to express their pleas.
ure n do justice to his performance
lie had never been conscious of any
thing like talent before, but how could
he refuse the testimony Of the ladies,
who averrcd that they danced twice
as much as usual, owing to his waltzes
and polkaS, which would tempt a
paralytic to get up N hop about OF
how could he Ignore the value OF the
officers apprOhatiOn, who insisted or
having two OF his polkas Published al
their expense? No wonder that krip.
kin began To feel that, after all, there
was something in him, some divine
spark--call it genius or talent-which
was worth a good deal more than
eighty rouOles a north, which barely
Suticed to pay for his room and keeI
HIM III food and clothing.
Two days later the clerks in the
government Office were putting by
their pens and papers, preparatory to
starting homeward, when the doors
opened, aud the general himself
strolled into the room, stately, Sc
we're and solemn. The general was
nOta military man, but he could not
be more abjectly feared or more i'm
plicitly obeyed if he had been. All
Russian officers, once they acquire the
title as cXcellency, are generals, and
their wives "ge~neralesses," and are
addressed Us such always by their SER
wants and often by their subordinates.
This particular type of the class, in
spite OF the terror his presence in
sptred, was by no e a hoartless or
unjust a But, as the clerks never
saw him except when something had
gone wrong, and somebody had to be
made an example OF, their knees trem-
bled whenever he appeared, and their
hearts auttered like newly Gagged birds.
This evening the general walked
straight up to S%kripkin, who standing
at attention." turned as pale as q
sheet, and seemed about to faint,
Obviously the great man had heard of
his musical performances, and had
in person to tell him what they
needed at Chat Office was an indus
triaus clerk, and not q musician.
'S9ou are Skripkin, | believe 2" said
the general.
"Yes--yes. your excellency. Skrip-
kim"
"Well Skripkin, it has come to nv
EARS that you devote u good deal Of
your time to music. Is that true 2"
Skripkin could not muster up suf-
ficient courage to formulate a reply.
He stood there m%otionless, fascinated
by the look OF his excellency, and star
ing at the lips which, when they next
parted, might pronounce the terrible
sentence of dismissal. The awkward
pause was broken by Petroff, who step
ping forward, replied
Yves, your excellency, it is true.
Ii may presume to say 1t, he Is q
musicaEgenius not fully developed to
the taste OF a perfect connoisseur, like
your eXcellency, but he has the ma
terials in him. A rough diamond, as
1t were"
Skripkin stood silent, more dead
than alive, and uncertain whether to
bless his friend or curse him.
Well, Pm very glad to hear it,.
Keep it up, Skripkin, keep it up. 1t
does you credit. Music is an art that
cnnobles. By-the-by, tomorrow there
will be u little party at my house.
We shall have some dancing, and [
shall expect you to come at ten O'CLOCK
sharp. Then you can give us some
proofs OF your musical gifts :" having
said which he turned on his heel and
walked out.
The clerks took some time to re-
cover from their astonishment, for