The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-04-25
LIST AS an IDOL
The Great Musician Was Petted
by English Royalty.
A SOUVENIR OF THE MASTER.

The Singular Memento That Was ga
credly and Secretly Treasured BY q
Cold, Rigid and Rather DIsasrssabls
Old Enslishwoman.
when was very small boy in
deed" writes Ford M. Hueffer In Har-
per's, when | wore green velveteen
clothes, red stockings and long golden
curls. thus displaying to an unkympa-
thetic world the fact of my pre-Ra-
pbaelite origin, l was taken one day
to a very large hail. In front Of Us
was a wooden PLATFORM draped all
In red. Upon the platform was
grand plano.
'In front of me the first row Of the
stalls had been taken away, and in
place of them there had been put three
gilded armehairs. before which was
table covered with a profusion of
flowers that dropped and trailed to the
ground Suddenly there was applause
"a considerable amount Of applause.
A lady and gentleman were coming
from under the dark entry that led to
luG dTL0l6 IOVLA hCI WCL0 LnC
Prince and Princess of Wales. There
was no doubt about that even for
small boy like myself.
"And then there was more applause.
What applause. 1t volleyed. it rolled
round the hall. All were on their feet
People climbed on to their chairs,
they waved hands, they waved pro-
| grams. they waved hats, they shouted,
for in the dark entrance there had APP
peared, white and shining, head
with brown and sphinxlike features
and white and long hair and the eter-
nal wonderful smile.
'"They advanced. these three. amid
| those tremendous shouts and enthusi-
asm-the two royal personages lead
| ing the master. one holding each hand
| They approached the gilded armchairs
| Immediately in front of me, and the
prince and princess indicated to the
master that he was to sit between
them at the table covered with flowers.
HE made little pantomimes of mod
esty, he drew his hands through their
grasp. he walked quickly away from
the armchairs. and because was Just
behind them he suddenly removed me
! from my seat and left me standing un-
der all the eyes. solitary in the aisle OF
the center of the hall. while he sat
down. do not think was frightened
by the eyes, but 1 know was terribly
frightened by that great brown, aqui
line face, with the piercing glance and
the mirthless. distant. inscrutable
smile.
"And Immediately just beside me
there began what appeared to be q
gentle and courtly wrestling match.
gentleman of the royal suit approach
ed the master He refused to move
The prince approached the master. He
sat indomitably still. Then the prin
cess came and. taking him by the hand
drew him almost by force out of my
stall. for 1t was my stall. after all
"And when ne was once upon hi,
feet as If to clinch the matter. she sud
denly sat down in ii herself. an,l witt
sudden touch OF good feeling sh,
took me by the hand rhe sn,.iii soil
tary boy with the golden cnrls ana III,
red stockings and sat me upon No
lap. /. alas. have no trace of The daF'
on which | sat in queens hap for /
was ali so very long ago; the king i
dead. the master is long since dead
the hall itself is pulled down and ha
utterly disappeared.
Il had distant relative-oddl
enough an English one. not Ger
man who married an Official of til
court of Weimar and became u lady /
waiting ON the grand duchess AS fla
as know. there was no, hing singu
larly sentimental about this lady
When ! knew her she was cold rigi
and rather disagreeable. She had a
ways about her a peculiar and disa
greeable odor. and when she died
few years ago it was discovered tina
she wore round her neck q sachet. an
in this sachet was a half smoked cigal
This was a relic of Franz List. Il
had begun to smoke II many years b.
fore at diuner which she had givei
and. he having put ii down unfinished
she had at once seized upon II and ha
worn it upon her person ever sine
This sounds inexplicabIe and incred
BILE. but there II is.