Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1912-12-27
.N2R/ZL CQIL/0HN/

morning and wrote out the whole pro-
gram for Alexis endorsement. sent
the letter by special delivery and went
out to reconnoiter
The era of Sunday orchestral con-
certs had begun, but that day, to Jim's
regret, the singer was not contralto.
Dramatic Soprano" was on the pro-
gram; a new name, quite unknown to
/ Jim. His interest in the solo1st
waned but the orchestra was enough.
He thanked Heaven that he was past
the primitive stage of thinking any
single voice more interesting than the
assemblage of instruments known as
| orchestra
Hambleton found place in the dim
vastness of the hall and sank into his
| seat in mood of vivid anticipation.
The instruments twanged, the audi
ence gathered and at last the music
began. It's first effect was to rouse
Hambleton to sharp attention to de-
tails-the director. the people in the
orchestra. the people in the boxes;
and then he settled down. thinking
his thoughts. The past, the future,
life and its meaning, love and Its
power, the long, long thoughts OF
youth and ambition and desire came
focking to his brain. The noble con-
fuence of sound that is music worked
upon him it's immemorial miracle; his
heart softened, his imagination glowed'
his spirit stirred. Time was lost to
him-and earth
The orchestra ceased, but Handle
ton did not heed the commotion about
him The pause and the fresh be-
ginning of the strings scarcely dis
turbed his ecstatic reverie. deep
hush lay upon the vast assemblage'
broken only by the voices Of the VIC
Inns. And then in the zone Of silence
that lay over the listening people
silence that vibrated to the memory
of the strings-there rose little
song To Hambleton sitting abb
sorbed. it was as if the circuit which
galvanized him into life had suddenly
been completed He sat up. The sing
er's lips were slightly parted, and her
voice at first was no more than the
quilting. 1t was borne upward on the
crest of the melody, fuller and fuller
as on a flooding tide.
Free of my pain. free of my burden OF
| sorrow.
At last I shall see thee"
the sense of space, of wind on the wa
tiers. of life and the love of life.
Jimsy was a soft-hearted fellow. He
never knew what happened to him:
but after uncounted minutes he
seemed to be choking, while the or
chestra and the people in boxes and
the singer herself swan in a hazy
distance He shook himself, called
somebody he knew very well an idiot,
and laughed aloud in his joy; but his
| laugh did not matter, for it was
drowned in the roar of applause that
reached the roof.
! Jim did not applaud He went out
doors to think about it; and after a
time he found, to his surprise, that
he could recall not only the song. but
| the singer, quite distinctly 1t was a
tall, womanly figure. and a fair. bright
face framed abundantly with dark
hair, and the least little humorous
| twitch to her lips And her name was
| Agatha Redmond.
| "Of course, she can sing; but it
| isn't like having the real thing-'tisn't
an Alto" said Jimsy dngratefully and
| just from habit.
\ IT.
! thoughts and quieted his restlessness
| He awaited Aleck with entire pa
| thence. Monday morning he spent in
| small necessary business affairs. Sc
curing. among other things. several
| hundred dollars. which he put in his
money-belt About the middle OF the
| afternoon he left his hotel. engaged
a taxicab and started for Riverside.
| The late summer day was fine. with
| the afternoon haze settling over river
and town He watched the procession
of carriages, the horseback riders. the
people afoot, the children playing on
the grass. with feeling of comrade-
ship. Was he not also tasting free.
| dom-a lord of the earth? His gaze
travelled out to the river. with the
glimmer here and there of tug-boat.
a little steamer, or the white sail Of
a pleasure craft. The blood OF some
seagoing ancestor stirred in his veins
and he thrilled at the thought of the
DAYS TO come when his Prov should
be headed offshore.
The taxicab had its limitations. and
Hambleton suddenly became impa-
tient OF it's monotonous slitnering
along the firm road. Telling the driv-
or to follow him, he descended and
crossed TO where Cathedral Parkway
switches of. He walked briskly feel
inc the tonic of the sea air. and circled
the cathedral, where workmen were
lounging away after their days toll.
The unfinished edifice doomed up like
a giant skeleton Of some prehistoric