Okolona messenger., 1910-01-13
THE DEAD
MUSICIAN

1
ready noticed at dinner.
Beautiful evening"" he said.
"Yes," replied, very beautiful. In
deed"
/, "Do you intend % land In AleIan-
dria?"
YES"
I'VE shall arrive there tomorrow
at daybreak." he continued. THE
Egyptian city" he added. 'looks real.
ly wonderfully handsome from the
sea. I have travelled all owes the
world and have never seen such .
beautiful spectacle in my life az that
offered by Alexandria a. seen from
the deck OF steamship. There II
only one thing on earth superior 70
Alexandria-Paris. Do you know
Parish"
"Yes," replied, II am coming
from Paris now. and I am Partisan
myself"
Really! How glad I am. I adore
Paris. The great capital is always
before my eyes, and yeti win never
see 1t again. Isn't that tsrrible!"
"Are you an exile," l ventured.
Something worss." he answered.
II am dead"
looked at him In astonishmsnt
He added:
"Do not fear. my friend. for am
not insane. I am the best mentally
balanced man on earth. Ny history
will demonstrate It to you at once.
Can you spare Ave miautes?"
81 can give you all my tme," an
swered.
! "Well," said he, leaning leisurely
on the rail, have you ever heard
anything about SaintMef"
What Saint-Me?" I replied. do
you mean the famous composer, the
author of such operas as 'Saloms.
Marie 'Patrie,' etc.?"
EYES,"
"Why, sure, have heard of him.
He was one Of our most illustrious
musicians and it Is too bad he died
so young and without being granted
the privilege of witnessing his own
! triumph"
The mysterious passenger looked
at me smiling, and said:
"In that case, my friend, you are
mistaken, for SaintMe is not dead"
'-How's that?"
"Very simple" he said. "SaintMe
and / are the same person. Do you
understand now?"
"Really2"
Upon my word"
He lit a cigar and sat comfortably
on an armchair and related the fol.
lowing history of his death"
"Ten years ago was In misery.
All my musical productions had been
failure, and l commenced to enter
tain very serious fears about the
future, when one day-while In Bre-
tagne, where I had retired owing to
my lack of resources read in
Paris paper telegram from the Ha,
vas news agency, giving details about
my death. This dispatch said that I
had perished in a shipwreck near
Oussant. I have never been able to
| AuQ Out IAl0 n6A0 Va Ih0 COAiO6ROA0-
snt Of the Havas agency who sent
the telegram. but the fact is that this
dispatch about my death decided my
future In a favorable way"
"How's that2"
Listen and you will easily under
stand.
Il was my Arst intention to tele-
graph to The newspapers q deniel OF
the statement. but 10 o. Is tele yrams
represented q price too Nigh for me
to pay, and then. bSSides. tsit q
great curiosity 10 know what people
would say Of me after my death. I
mast admit that the nswppapsrs. fA-
yored me more than J. had szpscted.
Some of my friends pNblisAed the
most sensational articles about my
private life. in which Tho most s1,
traordinary things were said. I ~
came q popular hero. Someone wsas
- iar % to say tha1 lad been .
mussoai genius and mat my operas
(the same that had been rejected dur.
ING my hfe) were simply wonderful
"'Maris' was again produced at The
opssa. and this time It met wkA ez.
traoFAinary sucsass. 'Salotne, which
had bsea refused. vas accepted sn6
appiauded TO the echo.
II continued In Brctasne and fully
realized that, IN risw of my post
n,crtem success. Il was nod wise to
9enecatAte. 30 I decided TO rsfnain
dad.
Protected by q disguise. ]. waited
IN Parts nephew Of mine-fny only
living relative and heir-and author
ICED him to manage my interest
keeping for himself one-fourth Of the
income and handing three-fourths to
me. warned him, Of course. Of my
decision to resuscitate the moment
he would try to cheat me out Of any
money.
Under this agreement which he
had faithfully kept, have made mil.
lions after my death. MY only regret
is that / will never be able to see
| VPs-