Produced by Judith Boss and Marvin PetersonSONG OF THE LARKBy Willa Cather1915 editionCONTENTS    PART I  FRIENDS OF CHILDHOOD        II  THE SONG OF THE LARK       III  STUPID FACES        IV  THE ANCIENT PEOPLE         V  DOCTOR ARCHIES VENTURE        VI  KRONBORG             EPILOGUEPART I FRIENDS OF CHILDHOODIDr Howard Archie had just come up from a game of pool with the Jewishclothier and two traveling men who happened to be staying overnight inMoonstone His offices were in the Duke Block over the drug storeLarry the doctors man had lit the overhead light in the waitingroomand the double students lamp on the desk in the study The isinglasssides of the hardcoal burner were aglow and the air in the study wasso hot that as he came in the doctor opened the door into his littleoperatingroom where there was no stove The waiting room was carpetedand stiffly furnished something like a country parlor The study hadworn unpainted floors but there was a look of winter comfort about itThe doctors flattop desk was large and well made the papers were inorderly piles under glass weights Behind the stove a wide bookcasewith double glass doors reached from the floor to the ceiling It wasfilled with medical books of every thickness and color On the top shelfstood a long row of thirty or forty volumes bound all alike in darkmottled board covers with imitation leather backsAs the doctor in New England villages is proverbially old so the doctorin small Colorado towns twentyfive years ago was generally youngDr Archie was barely thirty He was tall with massive shoulderswhich he held stiffly and a large wellshaped head He was adistinguishedlooking man for that part of the world at leastThere was something individual in the way in which his reddishbrownhair parted cleanly at the side bushed over his high forehead Hisnose was straight and thick and his eyes were intelligent He wore acurly reddish mustache and an imperial cut trimly which made him looka little like the pictures of Napoleon III His hands were large andwell kept but ruggedly formed and the backs were shaded with crinklyreddish hair He wore a blue suit of woolly widewaled serge thetraveling men had known at a glance that it was made by a Denver tailorThe doctor was always well dressedDr Archie turned up the students lamp and sat down in the swivel chairbefore his desk He sat uneasily beating a tattoo on his knees with hisfingers and looked about him as if he were bored He glanced at hiswatch then absently took from his pocket a bunch of small keysselected one and looked at it A contemptuous smile barely perceptibleplayed on his lips but his eyes remained meditative Behind the doorthat led into the hall under his buffaloskin drivingcoat was a lockedcupboard This the doctor opened mechanically kicking aside a pile ofmuddy overshoes Inside on the shelves were whiskey glasses anddecanters lemons sugar and bitters Hearing a step in the emptyechoing hall without the doctor closed the cupboard again snapping theYale lock The door of the waitingroom opened a man entered and cameon into the consultingroomGoodevening Mr Kronborg said the doctor carelessly Sit downHis visitor was a tall loosely built man with a thin brown beardstreaked with gray He wore a frock coat a broadbrimmed black hat awhite lawn necktie and steel rimmed spectacles Altogether there was apretentious and important air about him as he lifted the skirts of hiscoat and sat downGoodevening doctor Can you step around to the house with me I thinkMrs Kronborg will need you this evening This was said with profoundgravity and curiously enough with a slight embarrassmentAny hurry the doctor asked over his shoulder as he went into hisoperatingroomMr Kronborg coughed behind his hand and contracted his brows His facethreatened at every moment to break into a smile of foolish excitementHe controlled it only by calling upon his habitual pulpit manner WellI think it would be as well to go immediately Mrs Kronborg will bemore comfortable if you are there She has been suffering for sometimeThe doctor came back and threw a black bag upon his desk He wrote someinstructions for his man on a prescription pad and then drew on hisovercoat All ready he announced putting out his lamp Mr Kronborgrose and they tramped through the empty hall and down the stairway tothe street The drug store below was dark and the saloon next door wasjust closing Every other light on Main Street was outOn either side of the road and at the outer edge of the board sidewalkthe snow had been shoveled into breastworks The town looked small andblack flattened down in the snow muffled and all but extinguishedOverhead the stars shone gloriously It was impossible not to noticethem The air was so clear that the white sand hills to the east ofMoonstone gleamed softly Following the Reverend Mr Kronborg along thenarrow walk past the little dark sleeping houses the doctor looked upat the flashing night and whistled softly It did seem that people werestupider than they need be as if on a night like this there ought to besomething better to do than to sleep nine hours or to assist MrsKronborg in functions which she could have performed so admirablyunaided He wished he had gone down to Denver to hear Fay Templeton singSeeSaw Then he remembered that he had a personal interest in thisfamily after all They turned into another street and saw before themlighted windows a low storyandahalf house with a wing built on atthe right and a kitchen addition at the back everything a little on theslantroofs windows and doors As they approached the gate PeterKronborgs pace grew brisker His nervous ministerial cough annoyed thedoctor Exactly as if he were