The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-11-13
A MUSICAL GENIUS.
Sarah Stirling McEn
Bazaar.

He was sitting in his Office chair calrs-
Iy, lazily, independently gazing into the
clouds of smoke that emansted from
the fragrant Havana he deNSsrcuSsy
poised between the first snd second
fingers of his right hand; his feet we're
| resting on the desk before him. He sud
denly made movement. not OF nus
whole body by any means, but has se1t
arm He reached out TO push an s'sc-
! trio button and in an instant boy an-
| swered the summons. Jim, skate over
to the post office and get the mail. set
the mail. sayl" The boy answcred:
Yes, sir" and then was gone.
No, the man with his feet on the desk,
was not a railroad magnate nor any
other clipper of coupons-he was COM
mon, everyday editor of a daily news
paper in small city, that is, editor of
the local department. 1t was no; be-
cause his salary was S10.5o per week
| that he was given authority to order the
| printer's devil around, but simply be-
! cause that individual was at his COM
mand twice every day-when he wanted
the nail-and then he exercised his
| rights.
1t was not long until Jim returned
with an armful of mail-all exchanges
except a postal card and there were but
| few words on that. 1t was addressed to
the local editor and said: big thing in
this. Come Immediately" 1t was
signed, "a friend, AT Madison avenue.
A big news item was just what he was
looking for. The entire local stall,
which consisted of himself, had not
been very busy throughout the day and
big item would be acceptable. In two
hours the paper would go to press and
he could cover a monster story in that
time.
The city EDITORS name was Jones,
Wilbur Jones, and he at once set out
for AIT Madison avenue. AS he trudged
along he again read the card and this
time he observed that the writing was
from the hand of woman; and he olso
saw stain on one corner of the card
undoubtedly a tear drop, said wilbur
Jones. And as Wilbur lessened the dis
lance between himself and his dest;ra-
ton his imagination brought before
his eyes the sad cry of weeping wom-
an-possibly her husband had aban-
doned her; mayhap it was only family
row, or, who could tell, the story of
kidnapped young woman-a beautiful,
attractive young woman. The more
Wilbur thought the faster he walked
and the faster he walked the more he
thought, until at last his mind was a
seething mass of possibilities and con-
lectures.
Here was house numbered 482, so
the place he was looking for could not
be far off, AS he moved down the street,
closely scanning each number, sign
in residence few doors ahead of him
attracted his attention. 1t read:
Music lessons by Miss Hoyt." When
he arrived in front of the place he saw
it was "417." the very house to which he
had been summoned. After he had
rung the door-bell and was awaiting an
answer he inspected his surroundings.
The house was a pleasant one and to
him it appeared as though it might be
the home of family in good circum-
stances; then his eyes lighted on the
sign and the idea was dispelled for a.
moment; then he considered it possible
and probable that Miss Hoyt was a
"lovely daughter who no doubt was
giving lessons to show her independence
and new woman qualifications" While
these thoughts were chasing them
selves through his mind, one after an
other, the door was opened, and sure
enough, there stood really handsome
young lady. He did not gain good
look at her OIL account of the reception
H., I.rrk fAOrr <ka0
view he did obtain he knew she was far
beyond average beauty. He siam
mered: "Miss-Miss," when he was in.
terrupted by Miss Hoyt; at your
services, sir. Won't you come IMP"
| The speakers voice was low, and rather.
monotonous. The young newspaper.
| man was shown to the sitting or more
properly speaking, MUSHROOM, and in.
| his little tour through the house he
/ noticed that it was finely appointed and
furnished-surely magnificent home
for a teacher of music, unless the work
was followed to crafty mere whim,
as he before thought.
When Wilbur had been seated the
young woman drew chair up close to
him and they talked on the most o-di-
| nary topics. He felt that 1T was time for
him to go and he ventured to ask her
the object of having him call. Then he
was astonished at the sudden change in
her demeanor.
Heretofore she had acted extremely
dignifed and quiet. but she now began
an excited and disconnected harangue
on music and musicians. From what
be could make out of her talk. into
which she had injected much gesturing,l
she attempted to explain to him that
she was a goddess of music; that that
NEUROLOGICAL parsonage had been re-
generated in herself and that she was
now the personification and true repre-
sentative of musical genii. She told
him that he would not have to take her
word as a verifcation of her statements,
but she would show him by actual prac-
tice that sheA-Miss Hoyf-was NOT in.
| reality e. common inhabitant Of This
mundane spehere but was music-algel
| in human guise. She said she had in
vited him there SO that his paper would