The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-12-20
VI

lNoAiolueidDle pause IN eaQinr1
o.. "." VI. @"'"
Some seven or more years passed
when l was asked to make a contribu-
ton toward the education of Alice Har-
gam which l cheerfully did. I soon aft
er went"to New Orleans.
was reading one day when a rhyth.
mic CHATTER arose in the ~street-drums.
cymbals n fiddles. The noise came
banging on.
I leaned over the balcony to listen.
was there ever such a crowd-men, wo-
men, boys, negroes and whites, %cripples.
Cblnese sailors and evident fugitives,
all singing the favorite Salvation Army
melody. The music was cheap, the
words were evident rhapsody, but there
was a spirit in it all like a Irvine wing
something not cheap, out Of lofty mo-
tive, struggling.
Suddenly the iddles and cymbals
ceased. The drums beat on for a few
minutes. when the motley crowd all
san upon their knees in front of NV
balcony.
A woman made a wild prayer, with a
divine something in it, when a tall man
rose up like a venerable prophet. [Back
lights up. Tableau.] "aS f@ "a
II lowering form began to sing
swaying: gH % 15z-l.iS
when marshalcd on the mighty plain, tt..
The glitterins host bcstud the sky,
One Star alone of all the train
Can fix th sinners wandering eve. &
Hark, bark to God the chorus breaks
From every host, from every gem!
But one alone the Saviour speaks
1t is the Star of Bethlehem!
"Once on the raging seas l rode,
The storm was loud, the night was dark.
The ocean yawncd, and rudcly blowed
The wind that tossed my laundering bark.
Deep horror then my vitals froze.
Death struck, ] ceased the tide to stem,
When suddenly a star arose
1t was the Star of Bethlehem"
That man was Hargan.
1.-The Star of Bethlehem may be-
sung behind the curtain as if outside.
Considerable pause in reading.]
a4 E..@ls - E.FV VII. s55#
Fifteen years had passed since first |
cooled baby Alice's almost unconscious
face with the .sprigs of the Florida mis-
tletoe. She had grown to be a beautiful
girl, and her early friends Of the mis-
sion had caused her to receive a good
education. She had a genius for music
and had been trained by sympathetic
teachers.
I was in New Orleans.
One day there came to me a letter in
an unfamiliar hand. I opened it and a
startling announcement held my eyes:
You will remember me. You gave my poor
mother a sprig OF Florida mistletoe, which my
father wore. 1t followed him. l am to be mar.
ried on Christmas afternoon at 8 in the Mission
chapel to Henri Monet, Of whom you have heard.
Will you not accept an invitation to be present
and spenk a cheering word to me when the ccre-
mony is over2 ALICE HARdAN (A1NsLEt).
Henri Monet! He was a famous or
ganist Of an excellent French family. /
knew the fanilyswell.9 545tfgs
Did he know all? Ought hi not to
know all? Gould I tell him all? What
was my duty now? FIX
I read the. letter over and OYER. Ny
conscience burned. Could I blight this
radiant life by going to young Henri
Monet and telling the life secret, the
whole of which, besides Hargan him
self, only I knew?
] lived in a state of ervousS perplex-
ity until Christmas afternoon, when r
took my way toward the Mission chapel,
where the marriage bells were ringing.
Under a carved mistletoe bough over
the chapel loo We're the words:
"Seamen's Friend Chapel. The Gift
of Merchant Hargan."
There stepped from a carriage a tall
man. 1t was all like a dream, but /
saw in his face the better features of
the stoker, the 'wearer Of the mistletoe-
the face that once pressed against the
bars. III s,ss 4;f%4
He halted on the steps. fsf
My conscience rose within me by an
irresistible influence n I touched his
arm at the door. 5t4E$f 4SEs
.Hargan!"
You he replied, whose one kind
thought Of me found expression in the.
mistletoet"s 3 sF $50 $500 1870
"Hargan, does Henri Monet know an
-allg that you and I know? }" s
al, as / am q manfof honor. ,@s
WIKI told him ~ lstA
~. I wa Hargan! I am a man. y
begin "Lohengrinr or Mendelssohn,s
wedding March" here and continue It
toIthe end of the entertainments
There anne a burst of music-tha
'Lohengrin Wedding March. tA5ssAssS
I followed Hargan into the church.
There fell on myseyes a. lovely vision
1t was like a parable, Evergreens hung
over the altar. andsaonkt
was a start! as&i
LBackilights UP. Tableau. Evergreen
decorations e star In the evergreens.
A bridal couple at the, ALTA. Spec
tators grouped ahout.l
Curtain. 4sa
"a few br Il The Pastoral symphs-
NJ. ISL
ss8s $3.50 ass5s 49,