Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1901-12-11
THE FIREFLIES'
@@% WEDDING
BY CATTLE Eendes....

- Wv 'hidSe Iete | noticed in
the hght OF n mOonbcam child
heepmg against tree i'm the road
way alongside of miniature cathe-
urai IN plaster. have often won
Cered who buys these hideous pro-
auctions OF ecclesiastical architec-
turee, with such square, ungraceful
outlines, surmounted by a tall
bteeple and Illuminated with q can
die end placed on the altar. A sen
saton of pity seized me when
/ gazed upon the poor little merchant
who must have spent the entire
evening trying to sell his church.
and finding no purchaser, had fall
en- asleep 10 dream, perhaps, Of the
beating which awaited him at home.
Ragged, dusty and tanned. he was
as picturesque as he was dirty. |
awakened the lad, gave him some
money and, to avoid the semblance
OF almsgiving. ! accepted the plaster
cathedral.
1t bothered me Il good deal as
carried II oil under my arm. |
walked faster. being anxious TO re-
hcvc myself of the burden. which
intended to leave i'm a corner OF the
garden whore il would serve as
scarccrow for the sparrows which
were already beginning to steal nv
cherries
l must have looked like one of
those persona.cs YOU see in religious
paintings bearing the resemblance
IN miniature OF the chapel which
they have dedicated to st. Timoleon
or st. lldeyert in expiation OF their
sins.
Midnight sounded; / was still
awake in my bed. with ewes half
closed. But il was an insomnia
without fever, vague and delicious.
refreshed by the soft moonlight en-
tering through the wide open win
dow close by. which also bathed the
winding paths of the garden below.
the beds OF flowers and the velvet
grass in the pale enchantment of
fairyland.
Perfectly happy in my semicon-
sclous state, without the sensation
OF existence, yet enrapturcd with
the JOY OF living, | was rather
thing ecstatic than man. And
the vast silence. the absolute calm.
so suggestive of solitary wastes.
drowsy hooks, Of leaves unstirred by
any breeze. were decpened bv the
almost arrested throbbings of my
heart, by the dispersion in a dream
less peace of all my dead desires.
Suddenly sight noise startled
me. One might have called it the
contact scarcely sensible of some
delicate object with fccbly resist
Ing surface. The sound was rhvth-
mical, too, at equal intervals. sug-
costing the idea Of bell infinite
ly distant among the clouds
The noise continued hardly audi
bic, yet seeming TO gently impor-
tune me. | arose and looked out of
tie window.
Fancy my surprise,
The cathedral, which on entering
/ had placed near the door in a mar
row path. ike Il church al the end
of an avenue-the cathedral. whose
candle end inside had long been ex-
tinguishod now radiated illumina-
ton through all lis tiny red win
dows, anu as | leaned forward to
examine more closely | perceived
that the inclination OF an adjacent
wooibine caused the stccple TO be
capped by an oscillating beethoven
in which a bee performed the Office
Of clapper or ringer. What was go
inc ON, then, in my garden beneath
the mystic light of the moon;
softly stepped over the window
sill and knelt in the shade OF an
acacia. In the wall of the little
church, Just behind the choir, was a
crcvice, through which | now peep
ed. More than hundred fireilies, at
tached either to the shafts of the
columns OF perched before the altar
in lieu Of candles, filled the edilice
with light. and in the top of the
steeplc the Industrious bee tOlled his
bell in the woodbine, as if calling
the dcvout TO some important cere-
mony.
A constantly increasing and in
Vulnerable throng Of insects was en-
tering the portals. Crickets and
grasshoppcrs from the fields iostled
each other eagerly in the van; a
ladybug, to avoid being pushed IN
the crowd, was posted on the wing
of a dragon fly; tiny insects vested
in black and white. presumably the
clergy, followed a gorgeous cochi-
neal in purple. The whole seemed
strange confusion of murmurings
from countless creeping things of
every color.
When at length the entire com
pany had taken their places IN
proper order. large fly flew up to
the organ loft and presently hum
ming sort of music, JOYOUS, yet re-
! ligious. fairly filled the little basil