The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-01-14

door inc saw Mt once that ever yet the
battle might easily be lost.
Some miners had just come from
Slavin's, evidently bent on breaking
up the meeting I'm revenge for the col
lapse of the dance, which Slayin was
unable to enjoy, much less direct!
Craig was CALAMITY holding his ground,
finding it hard work to keep his men
In good humor and so prevent q fight,
for there were cries of Put him out!
Put the beast out!' at n miner half
drunk and wholly outrageous.
The look OF relief that came over his
face when Craig caught sight OF us
told how anxious he had been and
%reconciled me to Mrs. MAYORS singing.
'0rhank the good God!" he said, with
what came near being n sob. IT was
about to despair"
He Immediately walked to the front
and called out:
Gentlemen, if you wish it, Mrs. Ma
vor will sing"
There was q dea1 silence. Some one
began to applaud, but n miner said
s%avagely:
"Stop that, you fool"
LhSlc Was uSiuy vi u Lew ulOulclto
when from the crowd q voice called
out:
"Does Mrs. Mavor wish to sing?"
followed by cries of "Aye, that's itw
Then Shaw, the foreman Mt the
mines, stood up in the audience and
said:
"Mr, Craig and gentlemen, you know
that three years ago 1 was known as
old Ricketts, and that 1 owe oil I
am tonight, under God, to Mrs. Ma
yor, and" with n little culver IN his
voice, cher baby. And we all know
why. And what 1 say is that if she
does not feel like singing tonight she
Is not going to sing to keep any drunk
en- brute Of Slavin's CROWD quiet"
There were deep growls Of approval
all over the church. L could have hug
| ged Shaw then and there. Mr.. Craig
went to Mrs. Mavor and after n word
with her came back and said:
MRS. Mavor wishes me to thank hey
dear friend Mr.. Shaw, but says she
would like to sing"
The response was perfect stiffness.
Mr.. Craig sat down Mt the organ and
played the opening bars Of the touch
Ing melody, "Oft In the Silly Night"
Mrs. Mayor came to the front and,
with n smile of exquisite sweetness
upon her sad face and looking straight
at us with her glorious eyes, began to
sing.
Her voice, q rich soprano, even and
true, rose and fell, now soft, now
strong, but always filling the building,
pouring around us floods of music.
had heard PATHS "Home, Sweet
Home" and Of all singing that alone
affected me as did this.
At the end of the first verse the few
women in the church and some of the
men were weeping quietly, but when
Bhe began the words,
"When I remember all
The friends once linked together"
sobs came on every side from these
tender hearted fellows, and Shaw quite
lost his grip. But she sang steadily on,
the tone clearer and swceter and fuller
at every note, and when the sound of
her voice died away she stood looking
at the men as If in wonder that they
should weep. No one moved. Mr.. Craig
played softly OH and, wandering
through many variations, arrived Mt
last at
"Jesus. lover of my soul"
AS she sang the appealing words her
face was lifted up, and she saw one
of us, but she must have seen some
one, for the cry in her voice could only
ONE from one who could see and feel
help close ut hand. On and on went the
glorious voice, searching my souls
depths, but when she came to the
words,
"Thou, o Christ, art all / want"
she stretched up her arms-she had
| quite forgotten us; her voice had borne
her to other worlds-and sang with
such a passion Of abandon that my soul
was ready to surrender anything, ev-
erything.
Again Mr.. Craig wandered on through
his changing chords till again he came
to familiar ground, and the voice be-
gan in low, thrilling tones Demands
great song of home, Jerusalem, the
| Golden"
Every word, with all its weight Of
meaning, came winging to our souls till
we found ourselves gazing afar into
| those stately halls of Zion, with their
daylight serene and their jubilant
throngs. When the singer came to the
last verse, there was n pause. Again
Mr.. Craig softly played the interlude,
but still there was no voice. / looked
up. She was very white, and her eyes
were glowing with their deep light. Mr..
Craig looked quickly about, saw her,
stopped and half rose as If to go to
her, when, in n voice that seemed to
come from a faronf land, she went on:
"Oh, sweet and blessed oountry!"
The longing, the y%earning, in the sec
ond ooh" were indescribable. Again
and again as she held that word and
then dropped down with the cadence In
the music my heart ached for / knew
not what.
The audience were sitting as in a
trance. The grimy faces of the miners,
for they never get quite white, were
furrowed with the tear courses. Shaw
by this time had his face, too, lifted
high, his eyes gazing far above the
singers head, and I knew by the rap
ture in his face that he was seeing, as
she saw, the thronging, stately halls
and the white robed conquerors. He
had felt and was still feeling all the
stress of the fight, and to him the
vision Of the %conquerors in their glory
was soul drawing and soul stirring.
And Nixon, to0-he had his vision, but