The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-10-03
-..-..----.,- a.,
rHE SONG OF A SOUL.
A LEGEND OF THE STRING INsTRu-
MENT FOUNDED ON ERROR.

MIR. Thomas Cntgut's Touching Account of
His Passion For Miss Pussy Carmine and
the Tragedy That Resulted Therofrom.
Under tho Musician's Touch.
It's known to only few people that
the devil once had a daughter-that
was many years ago. Tho Lord be
praised, she lived only a short time
She was cut off in her youth. She oamo
TO this world in tho guise of graceful
kitten, and I, Mr.. Thomas Katgut. was
destined to have my fate intermingled
with hers.
While strolling along the banks of
pleasant little stream first met Miss
Pussy Carmine, and we'll was she
named. When I gazed into her eyes,
they seemed to glow with fire, and
when I drew my eyes away they were
so dazzled that all around and about me
seemed for moment to be red, and tho
soft gray fur with which she was COW
cred seemed to be tipped with scarlet.
Despite tho fact that my entire heart
went out to her in alteration Mt first
sight, could not but be conscious of a
strange and unusual feeling which 1
could not localize. 1t seemed to draw
and strain until it fairly ached but I
could not place it. 1t was not my heart,
nor yet my liver, and it seemed to be
far from my head. This meeting was
but tho first of many. Night after night
We met, but i'll tho midst of transports
of Joy and ecstasies of bliss which these
meetings brought to me l always CON
tinued to experience the Understandable
feeling, vague, unapproachable, yet al
ways there when in her presence.
One night felt that could no longer
contain my feelings, so, Oh the banks
of tho river, OH tho very spot where
first we met, told her of my love.
And, oh, the effectl Fire seemed TO
flash from her eyes and mouth and each
undivided hair OH her body was afiame.
All tho devil i'll her seemed to be let
loose Before my astonishment gave mo
chance to act she leaped upon me and
began to scratch and tear and gnaw
and bite. And in the midst of oil the
horror and pain of it came that same
indescribablo feeling in tho undiscov-
cred place.
was perfectly powerless to resist
her murderous attacks, and any efforts
Oh my part would have been useless,
fol felt that my hour had come With
out pausing, she continued to scratch
and tear at mo until finally, feeling
that l was i'll the act of taking nv last
breath, l opened my eyes to cast
last look upon this sad but beautiful
world. Just then Miss Pussy seemed
to have exhausted her vitality, for
she fell back dying even as my last fut-
tering breath issued from my lips. And
then my soul left its earthly dwelling
place, and, lowering above, looked down
OH tho scene of the late tragedy.
HORRIBLE dictu!" My own body lay
there liberated and torn, but the body
Of tho devils daughter had vanished
into space.
Eager rs was to soar away to q bet
ter land, could not tear myself from
tho spot, but fingered around my poor
body in the hope that some kind NOR
tai would find it and give it decent bur-
ial. But alas for all my hopes! At early
dawn strange looking man, tall and
lean, with long hair and bony, slender
fingers, camo wandering toward our
lato trysting place. Suddenly he saw
my body, and Il trembling took posses
sion Of him, which no soon controlled,
and lifting mo gently by the tail, car
ried mo for some distance until we
camo to a little house i'll the woods
which seemed to be his own. My soul
followed through space, eager to see
what was TO become of my body. This
awful man, who, it seemed, was tho
commander i'll chief of IN army organ
lied for the advancement of music, took
up murderous looking knife and de-
llDerately cut my poor body into bits.
He cut III deep until he reached my
very vitals, and as the knife touched
these my soul gavo long, quivering
but satisfied sigh, for he had touched the
spot which had always responded to
Miss Pussy s presence, and which, while
l had lived, had always eluded my de-
lection. He took up my vitals and cut
them into narrow strips and strung
them across the window to dry Though
my body and soul were really separated,
SO sensitive was my soul to any touch
to these parts that each time Il breeze
swept across them my soul could not
resist a cry.
These cries seemed to please the mu-
sician so much that he nearly went
wild with excess of feeling. He manipu-
lated the strings-which were my vitals
in all sorts of ways, and finally drew
them taut over peculiar piece of glazed
wood and over this drew rod i'll meas
ured time. My soul moaned and sighed
at each touch, but the musician seemed
to know how to modulate and moderate
my cries and at the same time to mingle