The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-07-21

From the window where the singer ga,
q silvery laugh fioated out. The win
dow closed. and the voice accompanied
his music no more that night
Next day at the office he stole many
furtiye glanceS at Miss DumOnt and
tried to decide whether he was in love
with her or with the voice he had
heard the night before. Already he
was beginning to think of it as The
Voice, mentally capitalizing the words.
Before the day was over he decided
that he was in love with Helen Du-
mont. The graceful turn of her head
and the purity of expression in her big
brown eyes seemed to him worth all
the voices in the world But in the
evening The Voice again accompanied
his violin playing, and for an hour he
was near to forgetting Miss Dumont
This went on all through the spring,
and Herman began to lose flesh under
the strain of trying to decide whether
he was in love with a beautiful girl
or a beautiful voice Time and again
he wrestled unavailingly with the shy
ness which prevented him from get
ting better acquainted with Helen Du-
mont He often met her on his way
home in the evening and knew that
she lived somewhere close, but he
could never quite get his courage up
to the point of asking permission to
call on her.
Then he made up his mind that he
would see the owner of The Voice. He
knew that she lived in the house next
to the place where he boarded, but
projecting bay window cut off the
view of this house from his window.
and he had no way of knowing what
room the owner of The Voice occupied.
One evening in June he made his
opportunity. At the end of a waltz
song which he had been playing he
softly laid down his violin and stepped
on to the next fire escape balcony. He
was long armed and athletic, so it
was with little difficulty that he work
ed his way along from one fire escape
to another until he had rounded the
point of the bay window. The bright
moonlight made him easily visible on
the fire escape, and he knew that he
stood an excellent chance of being
shot for a burglar but physical danger
was not half so terrifying as the pros
pect of continuing longer with his love
divided between voice and woman.
As he reached the point of the bay
window he peeped cautiously around
it. He saw a girl leaning out of a win
dow, and he instantly darted back. The
girl was Helen Dumont. He had not
known she lived so close to him, and
he hoped she had not seen him. He re-
solved to wait where he was until the
girl with The Voice should come back
to her window. He had to wait only Il
few moments before he heard The Voice
humming the refrain of the waltz song
which he had been playing few min
utes before. Again peeping cautiously
around the wall, he again saw only
Helen Dumont. She saw him and
laughed that sweet, silvery laugh he
had heard before
1t struck him suddenly and very
forclbly that he was Il fool, big Ger
man, musical, sentimental fool. The
owner of the voice was Helen DumOnt
Therefore he must be twice as much in
love with Helen as he had thought if
possible to love a woman. Very quiet
ly he made his way back to his own
balcony and picked up his violin again.
If, stupid fool that he was, he could
not speak for himself, he could make
his instrument speak for him. The
Voice was silent, but he did not care.
He knew that she must understand
AS finale he played composition of
his own only in time to escape epithets
hurled at him from half dozen near
by houses.
And, once having told his love with
the violin, he had less difficulty than
he anticipated when he called on Hell
en- Dumont the following evening and
proposed in due form.
Mr.. and Mrs. Herman Muller live in
one Of New York's prettest suburbs, in
a cottage where violin music and sing
ing can disturb no neighbors. The wife
is just as happy as woman can be
who takes vast pride in her husbands
talent and stupidity. She is even
prouder of his stupidity than of his
talent. Herman-well, he has never
got over falling in love with his wife
twice, thing possible only to stupid
ity like this.