Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1896-04-04

sunlight came down, and seemingly
borne upon it came a strain of melody
so sweet the lord stopped and gaZed up
ward through the trees, thinking it the
voice of angels. But the air brought
again and again the sound of sweet
voices, and they came always from the
sea- The air was filled, and the echoes
seemed other voices answering. The
tLorns pierced his feet, but he did not
feel them. He reached the edge of the
forest, where the grass was soft like
velvet and green down to tho waters
edge.
The ocean lay calm and clear as a
sheet Of glass as far as the eye could
reach, save only near the shore was a
great white rock, and upon it stood the
queen of the Lorelei. She was clad in
single robe of pale green, combing her
golden hair and singing to her maidens,
who held carnival i'll the waters around
her. They glided and glanced hither and
thither through the waters, under one
wave borne back ON another, and the
flash of gold was in the water, or
the CLEAN of all arm or a she'll tint
ed face. The sun shone full upon it
all, and the waves gave back the refec-
tion i'll simmer and CLEAN. The lord
stood still in ecstasy, then moved for
ward. Each murmur and quiver and
call of the Lorelei's voice drew him on
each echo, answer and trill enraptured,
bewildered and enthralled him. He
moved to the waters edge, then stood
INV, TO CT <Io
Lorelei saw his image in the water, and
turned and saw him standing. Then the
queen of the Lorelei flung her arms
above her head and dashed beneath the
waters, and the waves beat in music on
the shore.
The lord stood still.
Then the queen of the Lorelei came
back to look on him for very wonder,
for never before had man stopped to
look Oh her, but had fastened through
the water toward her to his DEATH The
lord saw her face i'll the water, reached
forth his arms, then turned and went to
his castle The shadows were dark, the
clouds wept, aud the wind sighed the
livelong night. With the morning the
sun came and the lord went again to the
seaShCre.
The queen of the Lorelci came forth
and sang, and came nearer the shore
than the day before The lord again
reached forth his arms, and she came so
near her feet shone white upon the sand.
Then she turned and fled down, alright
ed, through the water.
The lord came yet another day, and
the sun shone brighter, but the shadows
We're purple, and there was muttering
of thunder from behind great, white,
gold capped clouds The lord stood back
from the shore; the queen of the Lorelei
sang more sweetly and drew still more
near to him. The lord reached forth his
arms, and the queen stepped one pearly
foot from out the water Oh the seashore
The lord sprang forward, caught her in
his arms, and bore her through the for
est to the castle. The LOrelei maidens
followed i'll Albright, wandering in and
out among the trees. The ocean was
lashed into a white foam, and great
waves chased one another with sullen
roar upon the beach, The sky grew
black and the wind howled through the
tree tops, while their trunks writhed
like serpents. The wind came swifter
and mightier. The trunks of the trees
We're twisted and the ground upturned
along the seashore, and the whitened
bones laid bare. The black sky parted
and Jove hurled a thunderbolt. The for
est was leveled and the castle riven
asunder-not one stone remaining upon
another.
The bodies of the lord of the castle
and the queen of the Lorelei, and also
the Lorelei maidens were destroyed
but above all the sound of the tempest
could be heard the voices of the Lorelei,
for they We're immortal
Then Joye made violinS of the wood
of the forest, and imprisoned therein the
voices Of tho Lorelei, since their bodies
were destroyed.
Here the letters Oh the back wall
ceased to flicker. saw forms around
me and anxious faces, and was told
there had been thunderstorm, and l
shocked by lightning. When the violin
was wanted, and | told the story that
came from its ashes, was laughed at
and told ''tEe imagination plays us
wonderful tricks" But that it was not
Imagination l know, and when hear
violin shrek as it does in the hands of
the unskilled, know that the Lorelei
soul imprisoned within is being tortured
and cries in pain, and when the sounds
are melodious l know the instrument
has found a loving master and the soul
of one more Lorelei is at rest.-Chicago
Times Herald.