Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-07-19

(CHAPTER III-Continued)
Cherry settled herself obligingly and
played ragtime, although she fancied
that Emerson stirred uneasily as If
the musical interruption disturbed
him; but when she swung about on
her seat at the conclusion. he was still
lax and Indifferent.
That certainly has some class to
1t" "Fingerless" Fraser said, adj
miringly. "Just go through the roper
chure from soda to hook, will you I'm
certainly fond of that coon clatter."
And realizing that his pleasure was
genuine, she played on and on for
him, to the muffled thump of his feet,
now and then feeding her curiosity
with a stolen glance at the other. She
was In the midst of some syncopated
measure when Boyd spoke abruptly:
Please play something
She understood what he meant and
began really to play, realizing very
soon that at least one Of her guests
knew and loved music. Under her
deft fingers the instrument became q
medium for musical speech. Gay
roundelays, swift, passionate Hun
garian dances, bold Wagnerian strains
followed In quick succession, and the
more utter her abandon the more
certainty she felt the younger man
respond.
Strange to say, the warped soul OF
"F1ngerless" Fraser likewise felt the
spell of real music, and he stilled his
loose hinged tongue. By and by she
began to sing, more for her own
amusement than for theirs and after
awhile her fingers strayed upon the
sweet chords of Bartlett's "a Dream, =
half forgotten thing, the tenderness
Of which had lived with her from girl
hood. She heard Emerson rise, then
knew he was standing at her shoulder.
Could he sing, she wondered, as he be-
gan to take up the words Of the song?
Then her dream filled eyes widened
as she listened to his voice breathing
life into the beautiful words. He sang
with the ease and fexibility of an
artist, his powerful baritone blending
perfectly with her contralto.
For the first time she felt the
mans personality, his magnetism, as
if he had dropped his cloak and stood
at her side in his true semblance. AS
they finished the song she wheeled
abruptly, her face flushed, ,her ripe
lips smiling, her eyes moist, and
looked up to find him marvelously
transformed. His even teeth cleaned
forth from q brown face that had be-
come the mirror of soul as spirited
as her own, for the blending of their
voices had brought them into a
similar harmony of understanding.
"Oh, thank you,' she bfeathed.
THANK you," he said. "I-I-that's
the first time in ages that I've had
the heart to sing. I was hungry for
music, was starving for 1t. I've sat
in my cabin at night longing for 1t
until my soul fairly ached with the
silence. I've frozen beneath the
northern lights straining my ears
for the melody. that ought to go with
them-they must have an accompan1-
ment somewhere, don't you think sou
Eyes, yes" she breathed.
"They must have; they are too
gloriously, terribly beautiful to be
silent I've stood in the whispering
spruce groves and tried to sing con-
tentment back into my heart, but |
couldn't do it. This is the first real
taste I've had in three years. Three
years."
He was talking rapidly, his blue
eyes dancing. Cherry remembered
thinking at dinner that these eyes
were OF too light and hard a blue for
tenderness. She now observed that
they were singularly deep and pas
sionate.
'.Why, I've gone about with a comb
and a piece of tissue paper at my lips
like any kid. once made banjo
out of cigar box and bale wire, and
while was in the Kougarok walked
ten miles to hear Niger play a
harmonica. I did all sorts OF things
to coax music into this country, but
it is silent and unresponsive, abso-
lutely dead and discordant." He made
a gesture which in woman would
have ended in shudder.
He took a seat near the girl, and
continued to talk feverishly, unable to
give voice to his thoughts rapidly
enough: His reserve vanished. his
silence gave way to a confidential
warmth which suffused his listener
and drew her to him. The overpower-
ing force Of his strong nature swept
her out of herself, while her ready
sympathy took fire and caught at his
half-expressed ideas and stumbling
words, stimulating him. with her
warm understanding. Her quick wit
rallied him and awoke echoes of mis-
past youth, until they began to laugh
and jest with the camaradeire OF boy
and girl. With their better acquaint-