The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-03-26

ways 10 pass mrs mousse gong 10 anu
from my rooms, and now and then
when would hear his organ I would
stop and listen 10 the march. IT seemed
TO be the only piece the old man ever
played Being but newly come 10 the
city, had few acquaintances, and for
that reason, if for none other, / de-
rived considerable satisfaction from the
powerful piece.
One afternoon, it must have been
about six months after / first heard
him play, j was passing through his
street whistling the middle part Of the
march when suddenly looked up az his
windows and saw The old man looking
at me. i stopped short in my whistling
and was ashamed of myself because
had an indefinite idea that the march
belonged entirely 10 him and that l
was doing wrong TO whistle it, especial
ly when he could hear me. But he
looked at me so pleasantly that smiled
back and bowed TO him, and he also
nodded his head A few days later he
was standing on his steps as was pass
ing. and nodded to him again. should
have gone on, but he looked AZ though
he wished 10 speak to me, and paused
as reached his steps.
"You like my march ?' he asked.
said did, very much, and wondered
how he knew that had heard him play.
"Come in" he said, after looking me
over keenly.
II hope I'm not disturbing you," i
said, apologetically, 'but I've heard your
march several times from the outside
and / felt that must know the man
who played it,"
"Yes," he said, and then led the way
10 the parlor, for the organ was built
up TO within ten feet of the windows.
Take a chair" he said, pointing to
the only one In the room, and he sat
upon the organ bench and eyed me crit
ically.
"You, too, have a sorrow. Iknew you
would come! i saw you under the tree
in the storm. But why didn't you come
sooner?"
"You knew I would come!" ex-
claimed.
Eyes, of course; they all do. They
find crazy old miser, and then they for
| get the march"
He laughed low laugh at my as
| Constituent that he had seen me. Istudied
him curiously. He was very old, not
! in years, perhaps, but in misery and sor-
| row. His skin was wax-like and seemed
transparent; j almost thought that I
could see his skull through it. But the
| eyes-there was the man! the body
vanished. Ii seemed that the soul was
I eating up the body. What does body
amount to when one has soul? i for
got that was sitting in front of him
and was wondering Why he was miser
| when j realized that he was talking.
"They do not know what love or sor-
row is; everything Is earth TO them.
| They looked at my house and my body
away. My names Landis. What's
| yours?'
/ told him.
| perhaps you may understand" He
swung around on the bench and started
| To play his divine march. He straight
ened mp and seemed to fill out the clothes
| that hung loosely on him before; his
arms seemed strong and active. The
| player and the emacated old man were
two separate and distinct beings.
When he stopped playing and softly
| pushed in the stops, the spell was not
broken; the spirit Of the march was
still in the room and when he swung
round on the bench again, his face
seemed to be- encircled in halo OF light.
forgot that was in a dingy little
apartment containing no furniture but
one chair and a stool, with one old en-
| craving decorating the walls, the paper
on which was stained and peeling off.
| "Can you blame me for starving for
that?" he asked, softly, when the time
for speaking came.
"No," said, ~ do not blame you"
There was another silence which he
disturbed by crossing the floor and
throwing the shutters wide open, let
ting the sunlight into the room. 1
reused myself and tried TO say some
thing in praise of his playing, but he
cut me off by laughing aloud, his face
beaming, reminding me of a baby with
new toy which some one has taken
the pains to admire.
Don't say anything" he said. "You
know why i starye, and / know what
You think"
asked him II he ever played outside,
end where he played. ] had an idea
that he might be AN organist at some
church.
"Why, don't you know?" he asked,
appearing astonished. and then he said;
"No, of course you don't know. I'm
playing IL for her-my wife--thcy
played il at her funeral. They say I
fainted--odd, isn't IL? nsed To be an
architect; I was pretty good one.
too. Yes, l was n good architect. l
did that for her. Why, when | got
married ] was ten years ahead of any
man OF my age. was thirty-fve then.
I'm not sorry she's dead, for she suf-
fered a great deal. Her horse threw
her two years after we were married,