Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-11-03

your horrible instrum mt so thdt must
hear IT as | 90 by? BAH
20. Signore. it is 50 beautiful. So ten
der. so full Of the great feeling. / love
the master who wrote it SO well. and-I
feel that | could love the one who sang
II. too. II h. sang IL as the great master
meant Oh | feel how he would do IL.
and the little brown hands clasped them
selves eagerly tog ther on the blue SILK
Kerchef.
30. you know how | should sing it,
do you? Well. my child. YOU shall come
and hear me. ana hope. little one. mat
my singing Will please you as the great
masters would have done" and IL giande
Tenore hastily wrote a few words on
card. and handed Il To thu sdll won
der-eyed girl.
80. signore. a thousand thanks. the
girl began % say fcrvently. But the hand
some gentleman was already gone, ana
Bettina. looking after his departing hg-
ure. then glanced down az the bit OF card
hoard i'm her hand, and breathed a quick
sigh OF wondering delight Gould u Dc
really true. and was she COINS 70 hear
the grand gentlemen VIII The dark. SHIN
.ag eyes and the lovely long mrstacniJs
sing her song her beautiful so1gt
Bettina crcpt bc.N-en the shafts OF
the liano and dragged her heavy IN
work was not ended yet. and many weary
hours must pass before THAI would come
to pass for which her soul was longing
But all that afternoon the tired ltue
feet trudged manfuiy over the cOpbie-
stones and The round. weary arms turned
the heavy crank with new Zest ana
dragged the heavy machine with back
aching Jess than usual. For. tucked into
her bodice. close over her eager ht,le
heart. she felt o magic talisman against
WEAKNESS and urkindEess and disappolnt-
ment But she played her favorite tune
no more tina, day.
Pettna's father was a paper hover
maker. He had been famed boy "A horse
one day when he was dragging the piano
with her and since then his leg had
never straightenel out. 50 Bettina had
TO drag the piano and make the music
alone. And hard work II vas for a girl
Of 10. But he had made the dingy room
where ~ worked 70 blossom with flowers
Of the most intricate designs known 10
botany-howers such ~ DO not grow III
the cold America, nor blossom I'm any but
the most tropic of climes; flowers OF such
varied hue as only an Italian imagination
could recall from the gardens OF It's own
bella .atria.
He made little wind-mils. too. that
when there was Just breeze enough 10
fll them. but not too much to tear the
mimic sails But as this was a delightful
combination OF weather which Boston
seldom yOuchsafed to the LITTLE wOuld-be
buyers Of wind mills the old mans trade
was slender. For even his roses were
viewed askance by the skepucal eyes
accustomed To- the frail. pale beauties OF
our less ilorid meadows These green
purple. yellow. and blu blossoms were
too impresslonistic for even the Boston
taste.
Bettina had no mother TO insist upon
the polite conventions Of good society,
nor 10 act as chapcrOn when her daughter
attended tn opera. SO. when, after their
scanty supper. Bettina announced that
she was going 10 the opera that night,
her father expressed only wonder at her
good fortune. and reioiced ther5at with
her. For he was fond OF their pretty
daughter though be was sometimes a
harsh master, and made her work very
hard.
Bettina had never been 10 the opera.
Her acuuaiatauCe with the stage was
limited To sundry visits at the dime mu-
seums and the galleries OF the cheaper
theatres But this was 10 her a land OF
pure delight. She watched the surglns
crowd. the beautiful ladies' and their at
tendant cavaliers. the rows upon rows OF
happy. smiling faces and she knew that
she. too. was "A part OF it all.
Then came the overture-the dear,
blessed music that she loved-and then
Oh. WONDERFUL, another fairy world, even
more bew!,derlns than the one about her,
was Opened 10 her dazzling sight.
Bettina sat motOnless, rigid, the tears
standing in her sOft-brOwn eyes. her
head bent forward with parted lips. her
hands clasped close about great bouquet.
Nor than one of that vast audience no
ticed the girl sitting alone In her great,
elf-unconsciOus delight. And their eyes
mostened, too. seeing her happiness, and
they wished that it was all as new to
them, as real. and as beautiful that they.
too. might enjoy it as a child, with all its
glamour.
Then he came fOrth-oh. the beautiful
gentleman. Her Signor in his plumed
hat and velvet cloak. \ prince he was
the glittering. jeweled hero of Bettinas
dreams, Of the fairy tales which the dark
Italian mother used to tell long ago in
that sunny land across the sea.
Breathiessly she watched him. the color
flushing deeper in her olive cheeks, the
soft eyes growing bright and luminous
with excitement as his clear voice rose
high among the rafters of the great hall
Oh, how he sang. Bettina had never
heard or imagined such music as this.
and her little soul thrilled with the de-
light OF sweet sound The beautiful ladies
in their satin gowns. the Jewels flashing
i'm the soft light, the bright colors which
the chorus wore. the music of the great
opera tself-all these were to her but an
indistinguishable blur of color and of
melody. IL was all only a background
TO that central, glorious figures, which
was the essence Of il all; the divine spirit
Of music itself; the good genius who had
permitted her this taste of bliss.
So the opera went ON. act by act. and
Bettina sat there like one entranced.
drinking in deep draughts OF ecstasy.
At last-at the very end-came the
tenor's grand solo. \ few soft iiourshes,
tremulous note of prelude, and then
her song: her own little song, which she
ground out day after day, and a hundred
times a day, in the rain and the snow.
in the cold and the heat. But il was her
tune. SO glorified and made perfect that
TO Bettina it seemed an air chanted by
one OF the very angels of Heaven, Sc
fute-like was IL and SO clear. SO round
and full. so TREMENDOUSLY soft and tender.
1t was farewell lovesong which he
carolled 10 the beautiful lady with golden
hair. as she stood on the balcony above
But as he finished Bettina's eyes were
full OF tears and her heart was lifted
far above the dome Of the great hall into
another world; for she felt that it had
been sung To her.
Then came the mighty storm OF APP
plause that Weakened Beitina from her
trance, and through her aT-dimmed eyes
she saw the whole house wildly waving
handkerchlefs and cheering. She heard
the cries OF Bravo Brayo.' in her dear
native tongue. as the great bouquets fell
at his feet. at the feet OF the grand gen.
tleman who sang her little song.