The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-03-15

ing and raining. The lake was 1empes-
tuous. She found it tedious. dismal.
dreary and lonely to sit around all day
long while the rain was pattering at
the windows.
She departed suddenly. She went to
the village and thence to the city as
fast as swift horses could take her. Her
impresario was awaiting her. She be-
gan to travel again. Years passed. She
earned money rapidly. She squandered
it with equal celerity. She spent her
summers in watering places. She had
TO undergo treatment to keep her voice
from failing. Once in awhile the news
papers limited that her impresario
should see to it that she took better care
of her voice. which had lost some of its
clearness. People who demanded money
...om her became more pressing. She
had to travel more to earn funds to
meet these demands. The treatment Of
her throat became mere and more diff
cult
.Voices of such intensity never last
long, said the experts, and hers ought
to have been carefully husbanded and
scientifically treated instead of being
squandered and neglected.
A few more years rolled by TO hear
world famous singer was still inter
esting enough for many people; but the
unstinted applause, the flowers, the
presents, became rare. Evina's income,
too diminished rapidly. The time came
when the critics became fretful and an
noying; they began to call her an organ
with pipes broken and tunes missing.
Her jewelry had found its way into the
pawnshop; her country place became
the property of her creditors. She her
self had become superhuous to the peo-
pie who once looked upon her as bril-
liant star. They withdrew from her
and began to avoid her. Her recollec-
ton Of the lake became vivid to her.
She saw it plainly before her eyes It
was still blue and it beckoned vel
come to her Yes, she still could sing
there Out there was no newspaper to
sneer at her. no impresario to annoy
her, and the old hut was not valuable
enough to attract creditors
One morning Vermund saw smoke
rising from the hut across the lake. He
had taken care of it for long, long
while He kept it in order for her, fo1
he knew that she would return some
day He felt it to be his duty to row
across and see what had happened.
Bending over the fireplace he found
Evina preparing her breakfast. She had
arrived the evening before she was not
richer than on the day she left her home
years ago. But to Vermund it appeared
that this was we'll. for the less she pos
sessed the surcr he was that she would
remain there. And for her maintenance
he thought he could provide.
He came across every day. He put
the hut in good condition. He brought
fish, and he brought game. He brought
sweets from the village. which they
shared. Both felt satisfied. They went
out fishing together till the cold wealth
er set in, and the ice made it hard to
cross the lake. One day Evina stood on
the shore and made signs with scarf.
He understood that she had tried to call
him over by song but that her voice
had lost it's power-he could not hear
her. He cleared way for his boat
through the ice and when he reached
the other shore she told him that there
was no food in her house. He thought
that the best thing for her to do would
be to go back with him to his hutin the
boat. They rowed across that very day
Snow covered the ground; the winter
had arrived. People in the village
thought it curious that she, who had
been celebrity in the world, should
again have become plain Evina, and
that she should have married Vermund.
In their hut Evina used to sit in front
of the fire. watching her pots. She
would sing or she would hum parts CT
her operas, and, like an old bird, she
would succeed sometimes in bringing
|. forth some broken melody.
And sometimes, when she saw the
tall tree tops of the forest, her fancy
pictured to her the brilliantly lighted
opera house, she saw the upturned faces,
she saw the swaying bodies, she heard
the deafening applause, and she STOPPED
to pick up some flower. Then she would
smile and murmur softly to herself,
.'Old age dreaming Of youths pleas
ures. From the German For New
York Commercial Advertiser