The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1910-08-04
THE OLD PIANO.
BY Luseombe SeareIIe.

well, my boy" said he, after we had
put our horses in the stable end comfort.
| ably ensconced ourselves in the Beers sit
ting room. there we are at last. BY lingo,
this is a bit better than when I picked you
up In London, teaching piano at a shilling
a lesson. 1t was q lucky day for you when
l brought you out to South Africa ana
planted you squarely OH your feet. Pity
your poor wife did not live to see 1t. You
and 1 are worth today a half million
sterling, and tomorrow, by this time, when
the old Boer has completed the sale OF
this farm to us we shall be worth a cool
million pounds. Your music! YOU were
wise to chuck it,"
We had bought the Beers farm of 5000
acres for a pound an acre, and we knew
tha the Great Main Gold Reef of Jo-
hannesburg ran through 1t from end to
end, a fact that the Boer was ignorant or.
I-only a few years ago-a struggling mu-
sician in London, today a South African
capitalist, whose check was good for half
a million, What an irony of fate! My poor
wife,, dying almost In w~ant-and now
Curse the past! Why can't bury 1t?
Make a night Of II, you say? No, old
chap; I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Good
night. Tomorrow morning at six. Good
night"
In the corner of my bedroom was an old
dilapidated, useless piano. AS l fell asleep
the last thought In my mind was a pas
sive curiosity why and how 1t could have
got into a Boer farmhouse away out on
the veldt. And, sleeping. l dreamt thai
the old piano spoke and told me Its story:
ut seems such a long time ago. l was
pleasant to look upon in those days. 1 oc-
cupied a place of honor in our London
show rooms. BY walnut covering glist-
sned and shone. My keys were of the
Nhitest and purest ivory. Dainty girls
would come and play upon me, and my
strings would throb and sing under their
touch. / was happy!
lone day a lady and gentleman came.
She was young and very sweet. He tried
Nany pianos, but none Of them seemed TO
suit him. How 1 wished he would come
to me! He came at last, and lightly run
ming his fingers over my keys, sat down
TO play. I had found my master. He
played on and on. How l strove to re-
spond to his thought! 1 think he under
stood, for he caressed me with his fingers
tenderly. If he would only take me to his
nome and play upon me always! Under
his touch, a part Of his soul went into
mine, and I became a living %sentient be-
Ing. He turned to the lady with a smile,
and said, This one, I Think And she
laughed. with a ripple that vibrated
through me, and nodded to him.
"He bought and / was his and hers, now
-and for always. / was his wedding gift
10 her-to be cared for and cherished for
all time. How happy I was In my new
nome! 1t was to me he poured forth the
creations of his soul. He would sit with
ne, hour after hour, the soul of his art
pulsating through me. 1 knew his every
mood. I was his willing slave; and she,
his wife,, would sit beside me, drinking in
the music that he and l brought into be-
ing.
sIIauy h,Dn,, x,o thrao mona, III haI
composed an opera. He had confided to
ne his dreams, his hopes, his aspirations.
He was poor, that I knew, and 1 loved
MIN the more.
"And then a little baby came and stayed
with us a day. but 1t went back to the
stars and was gone.
And she, his wife, the light of his life,
was so i'll. She needed so much, but he
was so poor. He would, In his despair,
come to me and lay his head upon my
Keys and sob.
"she grew thinner and thinner. winter
and whittier.
"One night, when the whole world was
asleep, he came to me and cried, She Is
dead. She Is dead!
Soon there came some rough, coarse
men and they took me away. How he
begged them to give him a little more
time. To take everything. but not to take
as gift to his dead darling.
II found myself in the bowels of a ship.
Week after week the engines throbbed till
my pulses quivered with pain. Then they
took me and put me on a great wagon,
drawn by patient, sad-eyed oxen, and day
after day, day after day we journeyed
till we canes to a place where there were
crowds OF people, noisy. restless. I heard
them say it was johannesburg.
They placed me in a bar, open to the
street, and every one came to see me, for
I was the first and only piano in the camp.
Bold-browed girls, with male companions,
would come in, night after night, and
some would play upon me and make ribald
tests, till my soul was sick to death.
"One night a girl came in alone and
played on me, pathetically, sweetly, but
her tears fell on my keys. and her head
sank lower and lower, and / heard her
say: Mother! Mother! II you could see
Jour fallen daughter now, even you would
Nave some pity
"And so my life wore on, month after
month, year after year-the misery Of 1t!
my voice grew shrill and hard-for my
heart was broken.
Zone night, after the opera was over at
the theater some men came in, and with
them was one whom / heard them say was
the owner Of the theater and a millionaire.
1t was he! My old master! But, oh, how
changed! He laughed and joked with his
companions, VINO Semed TO look up to him
because he was rich and q man Of mark.
But T saw that his music was dead
killed-by the glitter Of gold.
"They asked him to play something, and
he came to me and ran his diamond
studded fingers over my poor, soiled, yell
low keys, and then he said he could not
waste his time on such a wreck as I.
II yearned to tell him, but could not.
He went away with his companions
and I could hear their laughter far down
the street.
Soon l saw another piano brought in
and 1 was sent to the market place for
sale.
Someone bought me, and am here,
Il have told you my story. Cannot you
Am ! so much changed? Take
me-take me ~away-for her dear sake."
was awake, trembling all over. The
day was breaking. In an instant was be-
side the piano.
1t was the same! oh, my God!
She Believed It.
NH IaIxy ,.,a