Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1895-03-08


erai days pausing often to break the
stiffness Of dell ard glade with the dull
Get voice Of his violin.
At last he came ul.5n a hamlet nes-
tlirG like his own picturesque town, ia
n stream threaded valley at the foot Of
a range Of hills. The dampness Of tho
day yelled the hilltops heavily in mist
q circumstance which seemed TO disturb
the simple villagers very much. They
were gathered In q knot IN front Of tho
mountains regarding wistfully the SUM
mits Of the nearest range. The wander
ing musician. following the path that
skirted the base Of the hills, doomed
suddenly in sight, and with one impulse
the peasants hailed him Us a being sent
from Other roalms-to aid them per-
haps. They conjured him to disporse.
the clouds that for several days he'd
hung about the mountains and prevent
cd their getting to their hocks grazing
ON the heights.
The traveller replied serenely in an
unintelligible dialect that the clouds
certainly were fno evidences Of a
dull day, but that the herdsmen woro
not to be further alarmed, rs he was
provided with the sovereign remedy for
such e~xigencies Seating himself on q
stump near by, Herr Vcit began conf
IDENTIFY to WOO the sun god with sweet
music The anxious rustics concluded
that this procedure was the magical way
to dissipato the mists and went by twos
and threes c%ontentedly about their vari-
Gus callfngs.
As the hours wore away, however,
with no marked tightening of the at
mospherc, the people began TO doubt tho
Strangers power and to exhibit signs of
Impotence, some manifestations being
SO stormy as to affect the musician-and
his moasures-tremulously Phu5us.
too, apparently was angry, for thCagh
Herr Voit, with his livclicst notes, be-
sought an audience, tho day closed un-
blessed with a glimpse Of the sun gods
radiance. AS the night became darker
and darker, the music grew more and
more faint, but it was only when the
weariest villagers had sunk to rest that
the melody ceased. In order to give their
would be deliverer sufficient time, the
inhabitants had resolved to leave him to
his methods until the following day.
Bright aud early next morning the sun
appeared, but long before its rays gilded
the mountain tops Herr Veit, fearful
Of another trial, had stolen from the
scene of his exertions-sighting after
many hardships the familiar roots Of
Salzburg.
One evening soon after Herr Veit's TO.
turn the student was asked to sup with
him, and owe the coffee the adventure
was recounted. The legend which had
turned the shoemaker's head must have
been of Amphion, under whose magic
music the ramparts of Thebes arc re-
puted to have arisen, for when the cpl
sode had been rehearGed mine host, pre-
facing by way Of momentum, "a little
learning is a dangerous thing, +" reflected
that in the olden time it must have been
no small matter to build up a wall by
the power of music, seeing that nova
days it was most difficult t. move even
a. cloud by the same.
True, Gabriel acquiesced, "such
teats seem practicable enough on paper;
but, success granted, 1 warrant that the
achievements one comes across in chron-
icles were not the crust breaking per-
formances that the old bards report.
Times, moreover, have changed. We
live in another age; different conditions
environ us. Waving enigmss abroad OF
in remote periods, there are problems
at our very doors clamoringf for solution.
Reviewing it all and recalling a trench
ant observation touching the happiness
of homo keeping wits, 1 am more than
ever impressed with the force Of our
adage-
"Schuster, bleib' bel deinen leis-
tent" Shoemaker, stick to your last,
anticipated Herr Veit gleefully, and foi
once at least aptly.-L. 1. Summerscales
in Kansas City Times.