Evening star., 1926-02-21

"Nocturne in K Flat" the Military
Polonaise," the Paderewski "Minuet,"
| the threadbare prelude" Of Rach-
| manioff Mendelssohn's Spring
Song" 'Traumerei," "Liebestraum,
| and the Beautiful Ohio Waltz"
Before he could complete his obliga-
ton, however, he was compelled to
admit his ignorance in one respect.
Il am sorry" he said. II am very
| sorry, indeed, but / have never in my
life heard OF the Beautiful Ohio
Waltz"
Here she struggled with her muff.
That's what l thought; SO l
brought you the music"
!, >Iglesias examined it carefully.
1T would seem to be very pretty"
he said. with an effort.
Another genius, or less purpose
ful lover. might have trif1ed with the
situation: but Iglesia was too far gone
even to feel contempt for the popular
for it's character and his own. and
he made Of 1t, in consequence, IA
gracious reverie. He had no means
of knowing that he reused, by his at
titude toward it. an answering throb
of devotion in the girl he adored. He
had no means of knowing that, from
this instant, she forgot to look upon
him as the property Of the world. and
saw in him only a lovable, talented
boy, whose sincerity wasn't to be dis
counted and whose vast ability was
incidental to his affections.
Certain 1t is that the weakening of
her resistance dated from this after
noon. In another week. he had called
her Doris" unrebuked. There We're
swift flying seconds during which he
was permitted to rest his hand upon
hers. Paradise was in the foreground:
and yet. with all his new-found mo-
tives and all his resolution, he was
still fumbling for the theme Of his
masterpiece.
II was not through lack Of diligence
that he had missed a theme, and IL
was not through lack OF any inhibi-
ton. He never said to himself, or
thought. that the project was beneath
MS intelligence. On the contrary. he
accused himself Of gross stupidity.
A S he sat at his piano. seeing visions
of her, he was twice smitten with
vigorous conceptions. He converted
them. on paper. into Opus Q and Opus
10. One Of them was rather like De
busy, and the other was slightly less
intelligibe. Both of them, judged by
the mea sure OF modernity. were works
of art; but Iglesia knew. in his de-
spair, that Doris would call them
coldly brilliant, and he didn't venture
to confess them to her. With a calm
ness he placed them with his pub
fishers at an increased royalty.
There came an evening when he
danced with her for the first time.
1t was at a formal, gloomy function.
but there was little of gloom about 1t
for Iglesia. She danced superbly; she
was the incarnation Of the music that
swayed her. And presently she said
to Iglesia, looking up into his eyes:
This is the Beautiful Ohio Don't
you see what a difference it makes"
II have been conscious of it," he
said gravely.
We'll. can you imagine youS get
ting any closer to peoples lives?
Look around And I can tell by the
way you're dancing. too. Don't you
wish you'd written it yourself?"
Iglesia didn't cringe. Let her taste
be what 1t might, here was definite
thing which she appreciated.
Il only hope that mine will please
you half as WE'LL
when will 1t be done. Arthuro?"
II cannot say. AS soon as possible"
During subsequent weeks. she made
the same inquiry and got very much
the same response. Iglesia was grow
ing nervous about 1t. In sheer des-
peration, he manufactured a bright
little impromptu for her. and she was
grateful but not remotely satisfied.
She told him once, pointblank, that
unless he kept his promise to her, she
might easily doubt his righteousness.
She implied that there was something
very mysterious about this profesSed