Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1903-10-23
you must be a kind of pantomime fairy

me- she broke in shrilly. I'm "A poor,
hard working, honest woman. Fairy,
indeed. The very Idea. What you've
Lad you've paid for, or. it stands to
reason, out you'd have gone long ago"
paid for blankly; why, when |
was taken i'll | was behind with my
rent"
And who'll blame me for paying
myself out Of the money in our
pocket" hectoringly. There you was
a-lying dead $50 1t looked at frst) on
he floor. and when The doctor wa8
fetched, he says food, fire. wine an
good nursing. Who's TO pay says I.
and he gays. You'd better look
amongst his things for his money.
In the meantime. use this giving me
n sovereign. One of the other dodgers
sat with you while | run for the medi-
cine, an afterward we went through
your things together.
'Ten pounds there was In two nve-
pound notes. an Is shillings in silver
I fist got the gentleman to sign his
name to Its being all right, which,
thank heaven. he's here an can prove.
an In course | took out the tn
mounds owing for rent. an paid the
doctor back his sovereign. an used the
rest as 1t was wanted. What's let's in
that there box on the table. an another
weeks rent due Tomorrow"
Where the money had come from
goodness alone knew! A purse Of
gold. where not one copper piece had
been.
THE mere money I may repay some
day" he thought: but the action
never. Whether one pound or so at
the last day, 1t Will speak-it will have
a thousand voices. God will hear
them"
As soon as he could crawl h"
dragged himself to the piano. II even
now he could only be in time-time to
win that grand prize offered by the
conservatoirc at Florence for the best
setting Of a Ong to words supplied by
them $50 English money. with the
situation of harmony master at a
large salary to. perhaps. the cleverest
group of students the world had ever
scen.
There Was an exquisite but madden
ing elusive melody in his braln-an
angel song; but his head was weak
from illness, and it was evidently
doomed tn remain n of those untold
dream w%itcherics which thrall most
soul musicians at times and draw
away their thoughts to clOudland. He
could not hum It, could not lind Its
beginning or end. though he tried each
note in the gamut: but he felt 1t. he
had dreamed it; some day-too late,
perhaps. to make use Of In this world
It. would come to him in its full, glori
| Gus beauty.
Song after SONG, tune after tune, he
painfully evolved, only to throw them
aside with a cry OF despair when fin
ishcd.
"Mechanical, wooden, Correct har-
mOny? Yes. but oh, yc gods, how TOM
mOnplace, how evenly on the dead
level! and only "a hours left before
the MS. must be posted. am like a
drowning nan who sees the life belt
hanging Just on, Of his reach. The
prize, the position. the melody and my
utter inability TO grasp 1t. What Is
that" springing TO his feet and al
most ~ceasing to breathe as certain
notes, halting, faulty, bn, still glorl-
ously beautifully. reached his ear.
"WhO IL hat? What is that a
long pause, then he said deliberately
AZ snow, THAT Is the music that shall
win the prize. II Is mine. not his.
dreamed It. | can write it into some
thing that viii clcctrify the world, my
harmonics shall be tran5cendently
beautiful, his ar" hOrelcssly faulty;
the melody Is worthless TO him, to me
it IL salvation for soul and body
The notes were played through again
slowly, %tcnderly, with wrong chords
with right chords, with one finger only
a rich deep voice htnnmcd them. Il
girls clear soprano corrected the man
to a curious minor resolution that
Collins soul had already ieapcd to
they-these unknown twO-had given
him the clcw to his dream melody
theirs was Of the earth earthly; he
would turn It into something that was
worthy even Of Heaven Itself.
Down he sat and set fcvcrishly 10
work and the melody fitted the words
as a glove the hand:
Han, victor in tn" generous strife.
This II the golden hour of llfe;
The struggle and the task are done.
The Bucrdon and IN" chaplci won.