Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1895-11-21

keen but unohtruSive scrutiny which
so much puzzled her and piQued her
curiosity, Today the Studious express
sion on his face was a tribe deeper
than before. Here in the house from
which the note had come, pinned ON
the gown Of its oStenSiNle author. was
a cluster Of mountain primyoSeS He
had seen a bunch II them before that
day, and his sister assured him that
there were no Others in town. That
bunch was in the hands VI sirl who
it seemed to him might emhody the
character he aSrribCd to the writer
of Mrs nuane's note.
In sunny corner near the quaint
market-houSe of % on certain
misty morning in February the old
peasant Mere Maria, as she was popu-
larly called, was doing behind her
waS awakened by the voice Of her
young lady. 1t took her some time to
tell in her quaint way how, on the
last market day, another lady had
come, 4 very beautiful lady, who had
descended from a carriage with liv-
cried servants and praucins horses.
She had asked for primroSoS, hut she
had told her that her own madcmot-
Selle had taken them every one, but
today she had enough for ali,
All this time there was handsome
young man on the other side Of the
street in the shadow OF Il projecting
doorway VIII seemed to be making 4
sketch of old Maria. For the NEXT
few weeks this picture was repeated,
except that the young artist had made
friends With the old peasant woman
and gained her permission to sketch
her from Il nearer point.
1t was Easter morning. The little
English chapel was filled to It's g-cat-
est capacity, for many of the rouGrC-
CATION who had drfted into the for
eign mode of keeping the sabbath and
rarely came 70 the IL o'clock Scrv ice
turned out on Easter. Some came
from mere fashions sake: some from
strength of association, and some
came with a true appreciation Of thc
days COMMUNICATION. This last
class was large enough to spread
throughout the church 4 revcrrntial
atmosphere. The white ROBBED Choir
listers filed in Singing triumphant
hymn. the solemn confessional was
said, and then the clear boys voices
broke forth again, "ChriSt, Our Pass
over, Is Sacrificed for Us" The
chorus dies away, "rhrough Jesus
Christ. Gu" Lord" few chords on
the organ, and then single voice
scars up rs Il bird set free, clear
pure, calm and trGmphant Christ is
risen from the dead and become the
first fruits Of them that slept"
That voice WaS not heard again
throughout The service. When the
congregation poured forth. after the
service, the one question that every
one asked everyone else was, "Who
is the new soprano| BY the next
afternoon it was whispered around
that the grul' old choirmaStcr had I'M
carthcd from some obscure corner Il
nightingale and givcE her that one
tiny solo in the Easter music to intro
ducc her and to whct the public curl
oSity. BY the end OF the week the
rumor had fully matcrialiZed. The
siugor was a young American girl, an
orphan. who was employed as Mrs.
Duane's secretary, 1t was positively
asserted that she would no longer
sing in the choir.
The reason for this WAS not difficult
to find Hitherto Mrs. Raymond had
gathered around her all the literary
lights and fine musicians that the lit
tie town afforded. This gave a dis
tinctive air to her receptions that
Beatrice Duane yainly cnvled Now
at last she had the upper hand. TIE
wonderful soprano was in her posses
sion and should be heard only in her
dra wing-room,
Margaret Ilalford'S place as Mrs.
Duane'S secretary had not been an
easy one. At the time Of her engage
mcnt she had been told that she
would be expected to do whatever
was required of her, and so 1t hap
pcned that she had grown accustomed
to earn her small salary by the per-
formance Of manifold ana miscclla
neous duties ana TO be surprised at
nothing. She had her books however,
and. thanks to the friendship Of the
English minister's wife, a few rare
opportunities to practice her beloved
music in a ctngenial atmosphere. The
morning Of Easter Monday she had
been summoned 10 Mrs. Duanc'S
boudor and Informed by that lady
that she would no longer be per
mitted to sing at church, but would
hold herself in readiness, and prepare
suitable songs to sing in the drawing
room whenever she should be called
upon to d. 50. The girl listened in
silence. but faint flush spread over
her face. This was worse than she
had expected Although Mrs. Duane
had always inspired her with an in
tense aversion. as long as their rcla
lions had beer purely business ones
this had been tolerable. TO come