Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-11-13
HER DEAFNESS.

Christina Phillipson arose one May
morning with keen sense of disaster up-
on her
She drcyv tbe blind hack The snrino
Sunshine flooded the little suburban street
An which she lived Quiet and peaceful it
looked. So much so that a passinR milk
man. wonderful to relate. refrained from
disturbing il with his wells and clnttcr-
nt least Christina did not hear him.
Slowly :! G proceeded to dress. and still
nreseut with her was a sense of npnrehen
sion and anxiety. She did not feel very
we'll either. and there WAS u faint huzzinn
Mt the back of her head. Her movements
she fnncicd were sinpulnrly noiselcss that
morning. or else she was very much alb
stractcd She did not even remember To
have heard the plash of the water as it fell
from tic lug into the basin. She wondered
for n second Cr two with an idle half
formed wonder. and ticu lus-.d down in
softly falling felt slim, rs to her little sit
Ting room. There was "A conspiracy of
silence abroad. it seemed, for even the
stairs of the i'll built house forgot once tc
creak.
Christina rang the bell for breakfast
and rang twice. for she did not catch tho
first faint tinkle. The servant who brought
in the tray looked cross, and Christina no
ticed that she did not respond to her 81 Good
morning"
With a faint sigh over the capricious-
ness of servants, Christina poured herself
out some tea. There was "A queer feeling
upon her. such a feeling as might well be
experienced by one under a spell or suffer
ing from thnt impairment of consciousness
which attends the bewildered. and ever mt
the very back of her head there went on a
fool | am. " She thought to herself and
laughed aloud And her laugh seemed to
her to sound as if it cane from her brain
"Reallv." reflected Christina again, II
never remember to have felt So odd in my
life before. will play a little to set my
nerves i'm order.
She moved toward the pretty little piano
that stood i'm the corner of the room. but
stopped with her hand on the lid, seized
by Il sudden and unaccountable fear.
With Il quick, resolute movement she
flung the lid back and struck full chord
with both hands on the keyboard. There
was no sound. and although she struck
again and again the dreadful silence of the
room rcmriaci unbroken.
Then Christina recoenized that she had
become Stone deaf and sat down with a
scared face 70 try and realize what it meant
for her.
1t meant u good deal-in fact, so much
that she considered seriously whether nm
der the altered conditions il would be
worth While to continue living
Music had been to her the central fact of
life around which everything else in her
world reynlyed Now the center had beer
torn away. chaos was come again.
Never to hear music more! Harmony.
melody. rhythm. the exquisite cadence of
the human voice. the witcherv of the or
chestr;;. the divine solemuity of the organ.
even the sounds of nature-the whisper of
the wind. the waves beating on the shore
all to lie lenceforward hit u fantastic
mockcry. She could not hear to think of
it, Her very soul seemed to Ee stined.
Then came gIimmcr of hope. The sen.
tencc might not be final. She would con-
suit a erctialist mt once By chance She
had heard Of such n one. Gathering to-
pethcr her small stock of ready money she
dressed hastily and set forth
The street, as she passed through them
were nightmare Carts. carriages. cabs
passed without "A sound: a horrible noise
lessnoss had fallen upon the noisy thor
oughfares The failure If one slipht link
in the mechanism Of sense had in mo.
,nent reduced tlo world ia a dumb show
Some ere in tie omnibus spoke to Chris
tina. and She flushed uainfully and touch.
ed her ear
She got very little consolation from the
expert WHO examined her i'm exchange for
the twn oI,incos she maid him He pave
her TO understand that there was some af
lection Of the auditory nerve The trouble
mipht prhaus he l,cnlized as 81 result of
nm operation Whether the operation would
he snccessf,I WAS uncertain but II was