The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1895-12-28
love Tor naught but his music.

Up in the organ loft Of the church,
lifted above his fellow men, he was
transformed into another being. And he
played with such wonderful skill and
touch that the maidens heard sweet
whisperings of love in the flow of mel
ody, while the doing mothers were
swayed into dreams of happy girlhood
under the influence of his strains. But
this was of no consequence to Father
Michael; he played mostly for himself
Expressions Of his hearts silent
dreams.
They jeered and ridiculed him in
the village. Every time he went into
Moser's, the tobacconist, he was greeted
by a sarcastic:
"Why don't you marry, Father Mi
chael? Are you going to live without
leaving SO much as your name after
you? What you improvise on the organ
amounts to nothing; it dies away at
once. No, it is a great deal better to
give the schoolmaster a little trouble
and present some fine boys to the ar
my"
= Everybody in the store laughed a this
sally. Michael was just the right one
to give his country brave soldiers! But
he let the people laugh and sought con-
ISOLATION in his beloved organ.
4
The war was ended.
But after that time it was that Fa-
ther Michael felt his loneliness heavier
and more dreary than ever. The wounds
Of jeering words sunk deeper, and he
felt their cut with bleeding heart. There
were moments when even the music
failed to bring him peace. 1t seemed to
him as if the words Of his neighbors
were becoming more cruel and that
there lay more seriousness in their rail
lery. Perhaps he was right. Misfortune
dwelt with them; there was bitterness
in many hearts. Perhaps now they
found a certain satisfaction in giving
relief to their bitterness by tormenting
Old Hunchback-him who did not weep
with them, but only played on his or
gan-the old good for nothing.
Yes, poor old Michael thought that
he himself was the most wretchedly
useless creature III existence.
Moser and the others were decidedly
right. During the anxious days Of the
wal the others had done everything they
could. Fathers and sons had seized their
arms and gone forth to battle; the wom-
en- had cared tenderly for the sick and
the wounded-he, he alone had only
been able to mourn and dream. Day
after day he had sat for hours before his
organ immovable, with his face hidden
in his Misunderstanding after something
he had never been able to hnd-a mel
ody which breathed and lived in his
!. soul; q miserere full Of tears and Of
sorrow, but through the signs there
should sound the cry Of wrath! the cry
of revengel Oh, if he, with thunderous,
raging and rushing pillows Of sound
could have checked the advancing enc
my!
But days, weeks. months passed. The
t loathsome annexation was q bitter fact,
The time passed and NJ deliverer came
Gradually the necks were bent. Slow
( ly. almost imperceptibly, they grew
accustomed to the burden Of the yoke.
3 Now and then was heard an exalted
I voice hurting an insanely impotent pro
test against the conqueror and seeking
to incite the people. but the people lis
tened, terrified, to the bold words. Once
. in a while a rebellious conscript created
a scandal in the barracks by shouting
"Vive la Francel' when the oath Of al
legiance was to be administered. It al
so happened that a daring patriot hat
nailed the tricolor to the belfry Of tn
IS church tower on the morning Of tn
18th of July. And great Consideration
was caused by a young blond girl VIII
at a fete crossed the market square
where all the military authorities wer
assembled. dressed in q neckerchief o
red. white and blue.
u Further than that the rebellious spir
It did not evince itself. But with ever
such outburst the grief and pain Of Fs
i Their Michael became intensified. TIL
memory's fever, which was whippe
out of the others as Ooh as it shove
itself. was locked up and hidden in tn
- soul of the old man. But there it la
and grew to a sickly hate, to a helple!
envy against all these others. He envie
=. the unknown youth who had nailed tt
" flag of France to the old tower; he el
\ We'd the recruit who had shouted, "Vi1
la FranceT" in the barrack yard, an
he envied the girl who had had courae
, to bear the colors of France right throug
~ the lines of the enemy.
- Everywhere about him they four
every day some new way of shown
IT. their strong memory and 3 faithfulne
!. that knew no death. he alone could
!" nothing, could find nothing. He W