The Forrest City times., 1895-08-30

her the Diminished Seventh he added,
with conscious smile that BETRAYED
the originator of the questionable
pleasantly,
Poor Diminished Seventh! She
WINGED as from blow, and Austin,
with the intention of covering her con-
fusion, observed with ready tact:
Il suppose because the minor har-
monies are most perfect and least un-
derstood.@
The retort was so sudden and SO un-
expected that for once the wag of the
family was left speechless. and not
quite certain whether some disguised
slur on himself had not been subtly in
troduced; while Ida, feeling vaguely
that those few words had sealed com
pact of eternal friendship between
Austin Marshall and herself. took up
her violin again and dashed into wild
and characteristic Hungarian air,
whose reckless jubilance was shadow ed
by an underlying vein of sadne SIS. And
when at last the music was all over.
she crept TO her room upstairs, mar
Yelling that the Boo k of Life, with its
multitudinous possibilities, had never
before been opened to her at the en-
chanting page of friendship.
That evening was but the forerunner
of many similar. Scarce a day passed
without Austin Marshall contriving to
spend some time with the deformed
musician. And as the days lapsed into
weeks. and the weeks into months. il
was noted that when Ida played alone
her airs were more roman tic than be-
fore. And even her unmusical family
became infected with their gayety; her
mother (who frequently alleged she
could enjoy good music as much as
anyone-if she could only get it, was
cheered TO the verge of joyful anticipa-
tion. For who knew that Ida might
not attain the supreme height of in
spring dance-music, such as her
mother loved, and abandon forever
those ghoulish walls she said were
classical.
But when the old doctor noticed the
change he shook his head In apprehen-
sion, while tears of pity filed his eyes.
His profession had trained him to read
the longings of the heart as well as the
II.
and if all he thought and dreaded
were true. Had things been differ
ent. If Ida had rot been distinctly
isolated by nature from the sweetest
gifts that life can hold,
And one evening came the crisis the
good doctor feared
Il shall miss all this dreadfully when
I'm away" Austin said, as he turned
over pile of music for a particular
duet I'm going north in day or
two, you know-didn't 1 tell you?" he
added, answering the unspoken ques-
ton.
Next autumn. when / am back
again" he said. presently, feeling
vaguely that something was wrong,
I'VE shall have some more pleasant
evenings together, hope"
Ida spake not For moment she
was conscious of naught save terri
bic sense of absolute despair and Gu
rious ouzzing in her head like the re-
peated twanging of the G string.
Going away-and until the autumn,
Why, by that time she might be dead
and buried. She looked round vacant
ly, as one gropes blindly in the dark
for some familiar object. She tried to
speak. but the words refused to come.
Something like dry sob rose and was
strangled in her throat. Then, with
out single word, she took up her
bow again and drew it softly across
the vibrating strings Austin looked
up in momentary surprise Then he
sat spellbound while she played the
weird Romance" of Svendsen's, once
heard, never forgotten.
He had heard it played by more than
one finished musician; but this was a
different rendering. 1t was like the
despairing cry of lusty swimmer
failing close to shore, or the wall of a
lost soul striving to escape from the
sea of torture and driven by host
of fallen angels. In those strains he
read her heart plainly, as though
speech had passed between them; he
knew the bitterness of her life; he
saw the vista gray and barren before
her; and when the last notes died
away he learnt in a brief glance from
lda's eyes all the strange discords had
not confessed.
Ii was but for an instant. For, in
the next, overcome by the strong ex-
citement she had just experienced, the
bow slid helplessly from her nerveless
fingers and she tainted.
Symptoms of little moment in an
ordinary person might in her case prog
nosticate the worst, and any new phase,
however slight, was at once submitted
to medical opinion. In the preseat in