The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1909-03-05
The Power of Song.


Josephine stephanie Lucille Eulalie d.
Raganza succeeded to the throne Al
twenty under the title Of Margaret III
From her earliest childhood she had
shown AT independent disposition. II
these times she would he a suffragette
for she believed not only In women
having a voice In the government. but
in their governing. Scarcely had she
been proclaimed when she startled her
people by calling for the resignation OF
the cabinet and filing the places made
vacant with
The queen filled other Offices with
women, and the men were stand.
Ing about, holding their hands. Then,
a fat political Job being given TO a wo.
man, the men thought II time 10 bestlr
themselves. They SEN the most &C.
c0mpllsbed. h~andsomest md most Sc,
ductive men to the queen on one pre-.
text or another, hoping through her
heart to attain their ends. But the
queen saw through their designs and
laughed ut them.
One day u knot Of politicians hungry
for plumber were discussing the situa.
tion when Il little, half deforIned. home.
ly man said to them: III you will
back Inc vi | will SO to the queen and
accomplish those things you desire,
All | want Is a suit Of fine clothes"
A shout OF laughter greeted his offer.
Then some one suggested that for a
joke 1t be accepted.
Not long after this the queen re-
celved q message that ii special am
had arrived with Il view to making a
treaty,
Margaret expected to see a man of
imposing appearance and, being some
what timorous Of such men, steeled
herself to meet him. She was sur
prised to see Il man barely five feet
three inches high, with long arms and
legs and a slight curve In his back.
Nevertheless his head was large, and
he possessed one feature of rcmarka-
Bile beauty and intelllgence-his eye.
Margaret unbent to this insignificant
creature at once, assigned him II wing
Of the palace and as o o as he was
ready-he seemed In no hurry-began
to talk over the terms Of the treaty.
Whenever the queen made a demand
tor n slice OF territory, a payment Of
indemnity or any such matter the am.
bassador would say In a soft voice:
Your majesty's modesty In your de-
mands Is what Is to be expected from
a woman Of such l%oveliness. | shall
advise my sovereign to double the
amount you claim"
There was no difficulty In making a
treaty oil such terms, and the queen
closed the negotiations, delighted with
the envoy. Then the treaty was sem
to the other sovereign interested for
confirmation, and the ambassador,
obliged to wait for an answer, re-
turned to his apartments.
That night the queen heard a voice
singing In the ambassadors wing. ac-
companied by II guitar. 1t seemed to
her that 1t was the voice OF an angel.
She listened TIL the song had ended
and. not hearing more, sent q request
for the singer to resume. He did so,
and Margaret went to bed filed with
the most enhancing thoughts.
The next day on inquiry she learned
that the singer was the ambassador.
She asked him to sing to her. but be
excused himself, saying that the spirit
OF music came TO him only In accord
ance with its own sweet will. II came.
however, on balmy nights from q pleas
ant distance and sounded especially
sweet when the MOOT cast It's soft
light over the palace and the grounds
In which II stood. Queen Margaret al
ways listened TO II sitting at her bed
room window and continued under its
spell long after II had ceased. Gratn.
ally the singer and the song became
one. OF the homeiy body nothing re-
NAMED, but from the ambassadors
eyes the queen saw a spiritual body
q transcendcnt beauty. a soul that
seemed TO beckon her to a higher.
ho''er existence.
Meanwhile during the day. there be-
Ing no treaty TO talk about. the queen
began TO speak to the ambassador
about her affairs. Never had she hard
such wisdom, such farsighted suggcs,
lions, He told her that such a queen
as Enc would he a blessing to every
people. but In all XIII ydoms there was
low grade work that only coarse ma
tured men could properly perform.
The treaty never came back, and the
ambassador AT last confessed that he
was no envoy. but one who, ha wing
seen his queen from n distance, so
worshipei her that he had been i'm
PEELED TO do a dlshonorable act foy the
sake Of passing a few weeks In her
adorable eompanionship.
One mCrning the journals announced
that all the ministers had resigned
and their places were to be tilled with
men. Then the people waited for an
announcement Of the names OF the
s-tlibers Of the new cabinet. When
the name Of the prime minister was
published no one knew him. At the
first meeting Of the cabinet a crowd
surrounded the palace. every one anx
ious to get a view Of him. One by one
the ministers passed out till they had
all left the palace except the man they
most wished to see. Finally the crowd
dispersed and left only a few loitcrers
on the sidewalk. Then a side door
opened. and a man with a body like a
pair Of tongs stepped out and. like q
crab, disappeared down the street.
M