The Topeka state journal., 1919-08-09
EVENING STORY
Songs of the Soul.


Borne on a clear night breeze, a
weird melody rose and fell, sometimes
breaking out in a crashing cFescendo
and again dwindling away to a Sob
bing whisper that seemed to rustic
the leaves OF the sullen woods.
/ The occupants of the motor car. nos
] ing and humping its way along the
dark, narrow corduroy road. heard the
music that came from among the
trees, and one, n girl of IS, was en-
thralled by the charm OF it and had
the driver stop.
What a strange harmony" she said
eagerly. leaning out of the car. mo
tune 10 it; just a series of wild but
I beautiful sounds-a song of loneliness
from the soul. But it has stopped
now"
straining their ears. the girl and the
| elderly lady in the tonneau and the
two boys who occupied the front seat
were unable to detect any sound save
the faint rustling of the century old
oaks that comprised the forest and the
subdued hum of the motor.
He's a real musician, eh, Alice?"
remarked the driver.
What is it, spook?" asked his seat
companion.
The youth at the steering wheel
| laughed.
Hardly. You're not afraid, are you.
Joe? That's the hermit of Viewland
woods. have never seen the hermit
and l don't know that anybody else
has. but there's a story that he suf-
son shut himself off from the
world"
He is, as you say. a wonderful mas
ter of the violin" said the girl, q tiRge
of the wistful in her tone. II could
play half as well-but | never could,
no matter how / studied. No one can
learn to play that way from books"
| The auto stood few minutes longer,
for it was hoped the serenade OF the
woods would be resumed.
He has probably gone to bed" the
girl finally said. I'VE might as we'll
move on"
During the rest of the journey to
Stanton City. Alice took small part in
the conversation, She leaned back in
/ the seat and allowed her thoughts to
roam to Viewland woods and the
strange harmony carried by the night
| air. The magic of the melody from
! the hermits violin had gFipped her,
queerly, seemed somehow to became
billions, which was not strange con-
sidering the fact that she herself was
| studying on the same instrument.
| Alice had arrived on the train at
| Meadow Falls and was being taken to
! Stanton City to be the guest of Mrs.
| Oolbys VINO occupied the lOnHedu WIN
| her. The driver of the car was MeF-
Fill, her son. while the other youth was
! Joe Prescott, another guest of the
Celby's
Two weeks later. when the time ap-
preached for Alice to end her visit and
resume her studies at a seminary in
| distant city, 1T was decided to hold n
l farewell picnic. Alice being. asked to
| choose the site for the festivities,
chose that part of Viewland woods
which was supposed to be the abode
of the mysterious hermit.
The picnic party included Merrill
| and Joseph, the formers mother and
another girl named Dorothy Pang-
| born. When the remnants of the feast
| were cleared away, the pienickers
seated themselves in a circle on the
ground for talk fest" as Mrs, Colby
| described it, but this part of the pro-
| gram was interrupted by shrill,
piercing sound, something like a
| whistle, only softer and finer, that
Lbroke thru the woods. 1t resembIed
/ the tremulous, vibrating notes of
| canary, and yet, it was louder and
stronger and more sustained.
The whole group was thrilled, but
none so deeply as Alice. The first
burst of shrill, palpitatiHg notes grad
| uaily modified until they resembled
the deep sobbing Of a cello. Then
/ the listeners were treated to a mas
| NCAANA AElNllAOi OI SOul-SLlrrlnR mar
| mony, 1t went up and down now and
then lending itself a touch of spark
| ling TnerFiment. like the tInkling of
| brook or the ehiming of tiny bells.
| put mostly giving off deep-throated,
reverberating peals that were won
! derful and sweet, but which seemed
nIied with feeling of sadness and
| despair
'The song Of the soul" breathed
Alice, half aloud, while the others kept
silence' seemingly robbed of speech by
the powers of the unseen player.
The music ceased so suddenly that
1t was startling, As the last note,
melancholy and mournful, died away
among the whispering trees, a human
voice was raised in a cry that was
either OF fear or pain. Then all was
| still
None of the picniekers spoke for a
full minute. Then Mrs. Colby at
! tempted conversation which was not
much of a success. The spell was
broken by an exclamation from Mer-
Tiil, who spFang to his feet and pointed
| in the air in the direction from which
the music had come. The company
locked and saw cloud of dense. black
| smoke, in which were tinges of red
and yellow, rolling skyward.
ITS the heFpit's towerl" said Mer-
rill. excitedly. ITS on fire!"
He started on a run in the direction
! Of the smoke. Joe was close on his
heels when he disappeared into the
woods.
Lets follow them" suggested Alice.
and she hurried after the boys. Dodg-
ing in and out among the trees. she
came to a path, along which she sped.
The path took a gradual incline. and
as Alice ran on she could see that the
| blazing structure was almost in a
direct line ahead. In a brief space of
time she emerged in a clearing in
which was a tall, medievai-Ioeking
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