The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-09
onfound it, nv collar dropped down my neck

hear some portions of the opera in
which his company had attained sucn
success, and himself took the baton.
Seats were placed for his wife ana
myself on the stage, and, as l was
somewhat disappointed in the APPEAR
ance of the theater, bare and denuded
as it looked without the audience,
which is the proper furnishing Of
place of entertainment, I closed MY
eyes and leant back, letting the deli
cious strains of the first orchestra
had ever heard fill my soul with &C.
stasy. 49,
I think that that excessive suscept1-
bility to music to which I have before
alluded is a temperamental tdlosyn-
Grassy peculiar to my self. 1t is COM
mon thing to love harmony; 1T is by no
means a common thing to become POS
sessed Of of it as I did. 1t has al
ways been my Pied Piper, and l am
sensitive to it's influence to danger
Gus degree. I had dwelt upon this
singular sensibility when discourslng
of myself to my new acquaintance,
and 1 do not doubt that Greeley's pro
fessional instinct had kept it before
his mind and suggested his making use
of it to promote his scheme on the pres
ent occasion.
He had selected the most sensuous
portions Of the score for my edIhca-
ton, and directed them in such a man
ner that their passion appealed to my
emotionalism irresistibly. By degrees
the melody entered into and seized
me. 1 became restless, uneasy, fever
ish; every pulse seemed to respond to
the delicious vibrations of the instru-
ments. All sorts of sensations and
impulses stirred and strove within me.
My nerves had been powerfully
wrought upon by the unaccustomed ex-
perienees of the day.; my whole being
was strung to tension 1T had never
reached before; could feel the Old
ecstasy possess and master me. l grew
unconscious of my surroundings; incon-
siderate of the fact that it behooved
me among these strangers to retain
strong control of myself; Indifferent to
all things save one-that music was
calling to me with her divine voice, and
trait. after the fashion of her summons
must l respond.
That burly, 1eshy, coarse, but unde-
niably sharp and shrewd man, who sat
before me in the conductors chair,
| waved a wand of enchantment over
my senses, and played upon my feel
irgs as one of his musicians played
upon his instrument I was in state
of thrall to his will. I wept, I smiled,
1 sighed, and when of a sudden he
leant a little forwards towards the
stage, and said to me, in low, i'm
perative tone of command, dance" the
while leading his men through the Sc
| ductive measures of the Coppelia
ballet music, the old fervor and mad
ness, the passion and desire which
found satisfaction in movement alone,
I'M M pYnrpCSlOn |
sprang to my feet, and before astonish-
ed eyes, which, whatever may have
been their anticipation, certainly eN-
pected nothing so finished as my per-
Torrance, I danced as I had danced
long months ago to the sound of 4
shoemakers fiddle in a dingy, dirty
attic in humdrum country town.
I do not know how long L danced.
Not long, I think, however, for my
prompter bethought himself to save me
for more profitable occasion. In the
first moment of Standardization that
come to me, I saw Kate Greeley rise
| and move towards her husband.
"Stop, Geoff, stop!' heard her say,
| in a voice that sounded distant and far
away ut is beautiful, wonderful,
divine; but it frightens me somehow.
And besides, she. will be quite exhaust
ed after all the excitement of today. 1
am afraid for her."
AND then the spell broke ana came
to myself. I awoke from my trance tn
| find myself solicitously regarded by
Mrs Greeley, and curiously considered
| by the men in the orchestra. There
was a look of excitement on every
| face; and Greeley, who was climbing
up over the footlights by the aid of
stage box. was in a state Of wild de-
| light.
Good Godw he said to his wife,
! hopping his brow as he approached
US. "Think what it would be properly
dressed!''
! The good-natured woman had thrown
her arm about me and was leading ne
| back to my chair.
| "Divinev' she answered. "Enchant-
| ing, divine! Oh, it took my breath
| away! Where did you learn it, child?''
I shook my head Reaction had set
in, and was dull, abashed and speech
less; mortified and ashamed, yet Sc
cretly gratified by the praise Of these
competent critics. Greeley turned upon
| his wife contemptuously.
Learn it!' he repeated LEARN It.
Do you think such motion as that is
ever acquired? You struck it when you
| said divine
We went back to the hotel, and Gree