Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-03-09

/ tress seems luxurious. white u Tue man
| OF the shOddy nothing seems worth
while but one Of floss. Added to Gray
sons inexplicable treatment Of tie
/ daGo kid. they told the story Of his hal
! lucinaticnS ~ how in the still nights
lie claimed to hear bursts of exquisite
melody such as only the great masters
of music might dream and dreami~.s.
reproduce. GraysOn was only a hum
bic student, and. try as he might. he
could not reproduce those haunting
melodies that would give him 10 rest.
With his awakening the melodies were
stiled, and only their echoes like the
half remembered taste OF some child
sh delight the name and substance,
color and form of which we have long
forgotten, remained He haunted the
opera and concerts. but he coEld never
hear them save in his dreams. Be
cause he dreamed these things and vet
could interpret them no better than his
average companion student they called
him daffy. Dafy Pietro thought o. him
when in the wee small hours Of the
night he aWolIc and heard those glOri-
Gus sounds His first quick glance
showed him that his hosts bed was
empty His second showed him the
figure OF the young man standing full
II the light Of the moon, his violin i'll
his hands. his face slightly uplifted
and with a TRANSPORTING look upon it
that would have made him pass almost
unrecOgniZcd among his best friends
Ills eyes were strange. staring. IN
earthly. and PietrO. encounterng them
shuddered and divcd under the cover
| LET, where he lay trembling, awaiting
to feel tie hands Of his uncanny hos.
upon him Seconds passed. seeming
like hours to him The flood of har-
mony still poured on uninterrupted
and he peeped cautiously forth again
and forgot his fear il his keen enjoy
ment pietrO'S ancestors had been min
listers Of the gospel of music, though
he did not know it. ana his ear drank
in those exquisite sounds greedily.
though his ignorant brain knew moth
inc of their worth
Days passed. and pietro was still
had taken Il fancy to him and dreaded
the loneliness that must follow his de-
parture Pietro's business affairs had
improved. The election was over. as
he reminded GraysOn, who replied that
he could see no marked improvement
in his own affairs. Pfetr0 answered
sagely that "a Teller never kin tell |
was pretty hard up that night me an
You first seed each other. an now. see,
l made 4 dollar an quarter today.
an you kin have it wells not"
Thanks" replied GraysOn. declining
the proffered silver. you're a pretty
good pal Of mine, aren't you. Pete?'
Grays0n spent Il good many Of his
spare moments teaching the boy to
play ON one of his violins and was sur
prised and gratifed at his rapid com
prehension. His own affairs looked
darker as the days went by. The EN-
ployment ae had found to help him
through his music course was taken
away, ana he was left stranded. Com
ing in one day after 4 weary round Of
disappointl ents, the sight of the boy
handling his most cherished violin.
which no one else had 4 right to touch,
angered him unreasOnably. Before he
had time to demonstrate the boy hail
commenced to play, and at the first
notes the man stood spellbOund. Slow
ly. uncertainty. with many blunders.
the child played. and Grayson listened
to one of his own dream pieces. He
was bitterly disappointed that this
child. this waif of the streets, whom he
had befriended should have heard his
music and, having heard, had been
given the power to interpret it, though
imperfectly.
"You thieving brat"' he exclaimed,
grasping the lad roughly. "Where did
you learn that? Who taught You my
music?"
cav, cut it OUT" said Pietro. wri2-
Cling away like an eel. you learned
me yer old squeaks yerself in de night
when youse cit dem bughouse fits on"
He told Of the many nights lie had
awakened to the sound of music and
struggled to reproduce it. He ended
with a request. uttered with an elabO-
rate carelessness that failed to conceal
his real earnestness, that Grayson
teach him TO become zone of dem sure
'nough fiddler chaps" GraysOn, with
the harmony ripping through his
brain. ready at last to be put upon pa
per to open up a brilliant pathway to
its authors success, gravely shook his
hand and answered. "Surer