Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1902-02-01
A FANTASY.
NY NJ. MAC L. HELLrwELL.


fragrance Of summer was in the air, and q
soft stiffness, broken only by the sweet
trilling OF many birds, and the monotonous
| droning Of the great, yellow bees as they
| buzzed in and out among the countless per-
| fume-laden flowers.
The woman had thrown herself down
upon a slope Of luscious clover, and off in
the distance she could see the sparkling
bosom Of the ocean rising and falling with
/ regular, rhythmic motion, as If nature had
! her breathing chamber in its mysterious
| depths. The fieecy, feathery clouds foated
/ airily through the misty azure Of the sum
mer sky, taking strange shapes as they
sailed
AS the woman gazed, half-dreamily, sud
denly her heart surged with hundred noble
/ yet vague impulses. Shadowy forms fit
| ted through the chamber of her mind--and
all were heroes; they spoke-their words
were music, and at each strange, sweet,
vibrating cadence something Of the hidden
sin and darkness OF the world melted away.
And there came upon the woman a great
desire to write that which she felt and
saw and seemed to hear, that all the world
might read and its corroding crime be
washed away. There was joy for the light
| hearted, comfort for the sorrowing--peaee
! for all men.
So she rose, and sought her own private
chamber; there she took pager and pen,
preparing herself to write; but the paper
/ stared blankly into her eyes, for the shad-
ows slipped away as she tried to grasp them,
and the words they spoke sank into meaning
| less murmurings when she strove to repeat
| them
Then a great anguish seized her soul and
! she cried aloud in her impotent despair,
! for crushingly it was borne in upon her
! that the world, unconscious, was hasten
! ing to its destruction, while she, possessing
the means OF its salvation, was powerless
to avert its doom.
| Then suddenly, softly, across her weep
4 ing came a gentle voice: Peace, it is the
beginning. Wait in patience and lnspira-
/ ton will come to thee"
| And hearing, she pressed back her tears,
and gave herself up to studying the shad-
ows as they came and went, straining her
ears that perchance she might catch one
clear note OF the music Of their voices.
! Day by day she lay in the garden, watch
4 ing the ocean rise and fall, while the birds
/ sang, the bees droned, and the flowers flung
| their scented breath on the heavy air. But
/ Inspiration came not
1 DuHs rose anu sec. l. ne mowers IdQeQ SLOW
! ly, their beauty-shorn petals strewing the
| ground, the fragrance passing away in the
misty, sitting perfume Of death and decay
| The yellow bees buzzed no more among
| the clover blossoms; the birds futed plain
| tive farewells and sailed far southwark;
! the heaving Of the ocean became wild and
! tumultuous-win had supplanted sum-
mer. The woman could no longer lirger in
I thp rdpn IN dream banaath tho a1ura
/ sky. Yet Inspiration came not.
1 So she built shrine to him in her cham
Der, and kneeling before it she would pray
and plead. Ceaselessly the anguish grew
! within her, and the shadows ever fitting
wore her brain and tore her heart. Her
/ soul was racked with yearnings and agon-
I lied longings growing stronger day by day
as the shadows grew more elusive.
! She plucked the sweetest flowers of her
/ fancy, the brightest blossoms Of her imagi-
/ nation, to lay upon the altar she had built;
! and there they withered and shriveled, not
even her tears availing to refresh them
and still Inspiration came not.
/ And gradually her hands became weak
and trembling until the pen slipped from
I her nerveless fingers, and she realized that
her power was falling Then she left the
shrine and took her station by the window,
through which she could see the ocean
tossing cold and gray in the distance. And
as she gazed, sad-eyed, her youth and
strength departed; To- a shadow fell across
/ her. She raised her eyes-Inspiration stood
before her
! Write" he said.
! Eagerly the woman took the pen, but
/ the trembling fingers encirced it so weakly
that escaping from their grasp, it fell to
the floor.
Now the shadows grew clear and vivid in
the chamber of her mind; they stood be-
fore her in their order, waiting for her to
( bind them eternally to the paper before her.
Still she sat motionless, and again the shad-
ows fell and Insprasi on spoke
at is the end" he said. Write"
But slowly the woman shook her head.
"The waiting has been too long" she
murmured Power has flown, and now
at the tardy coming of Inspiration, Desire
lies dead. l cannot!"
And the music of the voices of the shad-
ows fell soft and sweet upon her ears,
and the message that they spoke was clear
/ and of great peace so that as she listened
the yearning of her heart was lulled, the
longing satisfied, the anguish overcome.
She looked out to the ocean; its heaving
was long and low And still the music of
the voices of the shadows whispered to her,
so that light shoue in her faded face, and
smile played about the weary mouth. And
Inspiration, observing her, smiled sadly
Ts it always to be thus?" he sighed,
"Will the world never know" And still
the woman lay back with closed eyes, smil-
ing.
Then Inspiration gathered tenderly the
faded flowers of her fancy, the blighted bios
SONS of her imagination, which lay with
ering on the altar where she had cast them,
and with one backward look he left the
woman alone, with the shadows fitting,
fitting through the chamber of her mind,
and the music of their voices singing to her
soul
Origin of Joke.
DR. Finders Fletrie, the eminent archeolo-
Cist. announces that he has deciphered the