The Afro-American advance., 1899-08-05

| whether Inc pnHKs lhat hhhittl ibE a
present enanate from my spine or my
stomach. >
Not on your life" cried. III m go
ing to land that queer old fish. as got
call him. before ! sleep tonight. He'i
got at least two columns of copy in him
though you could hardly be expected tc
see IL. my bay
at strikes me" remarked DeveTeux
coolly, that il il hadn't been for ms
/ you never would have seen 1T yourself.
|. privately considered this rather
| mean of DeYereux. but as there was
| some truth in IL. wisely made no re
ply, assuming instead a calmly superior
mir which would indicate that while
he might have been the Columbus wh6
discovered this interesting human con.
tinent. | alone was capable of deter
mining it's artistic latitude and longi.
tude. But Devereux didn't mind my
manner in The least.
where in the devil are you goingT
he asked moment later. as plunged
| suddenly into a dark alley.
''To the stage entrance" wherever II
may be-" | replied, shortly.
knew mighty well where IL was. for
I'd served my turn in the train of the
| lovely Caroline Gaines adorers, a.
many "a better fellow had done before
me, and since, too. for that matter.
We'll. hope 10 heaven he won't be
all night In coming" Rroaned Dey.
ereauN. as he turned up his coat collar
10 keep out the keen east wind.
But il seemed as II he meant 10 be
all night. for though we waited till the
last tousled arsd sleepy chorus girl Hit.
ted by us under the glittcrinR gas jet,
the old musician did not appear.
At last DeYereux rebelled.
WELL" he announced. with much
firmness. you may be willing to stand
here till you freeze into n monument
to the AttTaetiyeness of Mr.. Hatche.
stems corps du ballet. but I'm blamed
II ! do. Here goes for that sandwich. "
| followed him in disappointed sulki.
ness TO the Hungarian cafe we fire.
qnent. and there under the mellowing
influence Of bottle OF Budai | recoy.
cred somewhat from my chagrin at the
escape Of my find"
Where on earth had he gone? won,
dered. And what n picture he made,
with those burning, deep-set eyes under
the shock of hair a rare type Flem.
isb. probably.
Pure Hungarian. II anything ever
was" remarked Devereux. In my ear.
RATS" I reioined. you ought TO
know better. That coloring-"
who cares how IL looks?" cried
DcvereuX. Its when IL goes down
your throat IL shows It's quality"
What" | began. turning ON him
in astonishmeni. lie was gazing nf.
fectionately at the wine In his glass
II WAS of that he had been talking. !
turned away with a scornful shrug OF
my shoulders.
THE railroad business IL hardly con.
duclve to imagination" observed.
with sarcasm, and then ! gave "a cry OF
joy, There wns INLAND nj the next
table. aud INLAND was musical direct.
ar ~ the Rcgia and a friend OF mine.
Ia rcsponse to my eager summons he
ftAtAf aAAA It'AAAFtt VS. AffAtAllN ~ NJ
as soon as 1t was decent commenced
To pump him.
That was a great cello player you
had to.night."I remarked, blnndly.
"Oh. yes" said INLAND. with n little
smile. half apologetic. hall annoyed.
Hes a genius. Where did you pick
him up2" asked. trying to be care.
less. but succeeding badly. as was
told by the twinkle in Deyerrux' eve.
Really. It's too bad To make fun of
us," said the director. showing his
teeth In another little smile. but look
ing really annoyed this time.
But I'm In earnest" persisted. get
ting angry In my turn. THAT old fel-
low who played the cello for you To.
night n as iine a player as | ever heard,
aud hi~ impro,isations were really
maAtcrly."
INLAND glanced quickly at the bottle
from which Ia just rrtillcd my glass.
and then inquiringly at Devcrcux. be
fore he replied, with rather distant po-
liteness:
TIN afraid you're not quite your.
self. my dear sir. We haven't had a
cello player In our orchestra for a
year"
What are you giving us. anyhow -
! cried, rudely. aud DevsrcuX hastily
| interposed;
why, you're dreaming. sir. We
were watching him all the evening. a
white-fRCcd old chap. with queer,
long head, and n lot of i'aderrwski
/ hair"
"And he played things that were not
Va the scorc. weird little melodies tha,
got under your skin and set your
nerves ON edge" added. eagerly,
INLAND took a hasty swallow from
his glass aud wiped his face with a
strangely shaking hand. Then hs
hNed his eyes on us With a queer look
aud said. slowly;
Gentlemen, you've been describing
an old musician Who played for Us fpr
long time. but does 50 no longer"
"llut he was there tonight" burst
/ cut ncNrreuN,
"ot course he was. said. we saw
him. "
'one year ago Tonight. went ON our
guest. not noticing our Interruption
''he hanged himself with one OF the
strings Of bis crllo, saw him barirl
We were speaking Of him Just beiors