Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1895-05-02

WIIl SulItIISc Until nv lta'Itll wv
door. when he again turned and
wished her goodbye in Il voice that
she never. forgot Rejecting ON this
little incident afterWard, she regarded
it as Il strong proof Of the solid friend
ship which existed between them, and
enjoyed many II comfortable cry over
il In subsequent years.
The organ was rolling great waves Of
SurrOWful music about the Yaulted roof
Of the cathedral, Or. Rydal, the organ
list, being plunged in one of those fits
Of profound melancholy to which the
artistic temperament is liable. such Il
gloom had not brU0ded over him for
years, and all his efforts to shake it
off and modulate his mOurnflll ca
dcnces into more joyous harmonicS
were vain; so at last he gave rein to
it, and passed ont Of one minor key
into another, until he glided finally
into the passionate pleading of Men
dclsSUhn's "Oh Lord, have mercy, and
blot out my transgression," from the
ST. Paul, and the choir paced In with
even step, IA long procession of white
robes, closed by the deans scarlet
hood and the bishops lawn.
People noticed the deans worn face
and his look of utter wearinesS par
ticularly when he stood up to read the
First Lesson, which Glanced to contain
the pathetic story of the death of Alb
salon, and never, they thought, was
the pathos of that divine narrative,
the stumbling block and the despair
Of most readers, more truly and beau
tifuly rendered. Ills magnificent
voice never for moment escaped his
control but pcalcd steadily ON, giving
syllable, and throwing the full measure
of the stricken and pcnitent fathers
anguish into the hcArt-rcnding words.
ooh. my son Asbalom. my son. my SON
Absalom! would God | had died for
thee, oh, AbSalom. my son, my son"
words so nobly nipple in their muttcr
able sorrow.
Many eyes were wet when the dean
ended his reading, and most of those
who were listening remembered of how
many AbSaloms he had been bcrcaved;
but rhcy did not dream how close the
parallel was between him and the
crowned mourncr of Israel. who knew
that his own sin had wrought him
these terrible woes.
He had not observed the immense
concourse of people; his eyes had been
bent ON the ground, his soul had been
too conscious of awful prcSencM, too
occupied by eternal realities, to ne dis
turbcd by anything human when he
entered the holy building. But when
he finished reading and was turning
from the lrcturn, the force of old habit
was so strong upon him that he lifted
his head, and with one lightning
glance swept all the crowded spaces of
the vast building. and encountered the
multitudinous gaze Of the great sea
of faces.
He saw the premier, the familiar
figures of the jewellers in the close. and
the people from the city and it cnvi-
runS, the fashion of BclmnStcr and its
commerce, working people and oilers,
the known and the unknown, the choir
and the clergy, the bishop and the
,luainlly clad almsmen; and, quite
near him, Lady Louisa, with Lord Ar
thur and the duke and duchess, who
had driven through the hot sun all the
way from the castle with their diStin-
GuiShrd guest for the express purpose
OF hearing the famed clouucnce of the
bishop elect.
He Thought that all that multitude
must soon know his shame, they who
hunorcd hmm and hung waiting upon
his words, and the thousand eyes bent
upon MIN, more or less tuli of the deep
thoughts stirred 10y the divine nalTa-
tive he had just read 50 perfectly,
seemed like 50 many points of tame
darCng into the most secret rcTeSSeS
ct his soul; he turned sick, and longcd
for the pavement beneath his tcel to
Nawn and swallow hmm. What mortal
,oulu bear that crushing weight OF
SrurnE he Wondered. the mere anticl-
patton of II stopped his breath and
made his heart Shuddrr with a pierre
ing pain; it must certainly Kill him.
Ne returned TO his stall, against the
tlilIh tdlNtu NbIh NJ w lllNll Ills lstt
showed like some hNlutitul Greek
marble, quite rs white and still, and
the organ pcalra, and The voices OF the
fun choir blended in magnificent bill
lows Of song, and the words of the
"Maguilicat fen upon his unhcelinE
ear. till Il kiss voice separated itself
from the others, and numbered out,
lie hath put down the mighty from
their Sc;lt.' in tones which seemed to
convey "A special menace to his trou-
hlrd soul
'fhe great congregation seemed to
melt away, and before his eyes arose
the face that had never left him since
the moment when he first saw 1t, two
nights ago the worn and wasted face
of his betrayed friend, with It's loyal
gaze of heroic sadness looking ancient
Kindness" upon his sclf-a%cuSing mis-
cry. Never. he thought. while he lived,
would the look of that face cwlSH to
haunt him never, perhaps, even
through all the endless ages OF rter-
nifty And not that face alone. others
~ I