ItEYXOIiDSVIMiE, I'KNN'A., WEDNESDAY. JIAHCII 10, 1!W7.
NMIIiEI! 13.
VOLUiMK 5.
BeatrixjandoiDli.
By JULIAN HAWTHORNE.
Cip3'l lclit IMltiy Amellciin Pi-i'mh AHor1utlnli
(ontini:ki).
In autumn the old Randolph home
stead looked ns if it wero showered Willi
gold. Tho great elm lived, transmuted
by tlm touch of this Mi d,'i of the seasons,
stood in s yellow glory of myriad leaves,
which every lirentli of tho rool west
breeze scattered profusely eastward,
where, with tho Ktill unchanged grass,
they formed n spangled cnrpt of green
and (fold. Tho ripples thronged the
crooked boughs of tho orelmrd, some like
glowing rubles, others liko tho famous
fruit of tho tlcsperides, though there
was no guardian dragon to give ( ty-m
fictitious value. The broad ror:tT the
house itself was littered with innu
merable little golden scales, of work
manship far beyond tho skill
of any humnn goldsmith, yet of
absolutely no market value. What Is
the significance of this yearly phantas
magoria of Illimitable riches, worthless
because illimitable? Is it n satire or n
consolation? Dih-s it mock the poor
man's indigence or cause him to hope
again for competence? It conies as t lie
guerdon of Nature, after her mighty
task is done; but when sho lias composed
herself to her wintry sleep It is trodden
into tho earth and forgotten, and tho
new year hepins hi labors with new sap
and naked buds. It Is only the human
world that Lm to bear tho burden of in
heritance; a:id perhaps we shall never
njoy true wealth till we have learned
the lesson of the trees.
Poor Mr. Randolph certainly had lit
tle else beside autumn leaves wherewith
to satisfy his creditors, and the winter
of his discontent waa close npon him.
There is a philosophy for the poor and a.
philosophy for the wealthy, bnt tlw
philosophy t' it can console the debtor
baa yet to be discovered.
Born and 'fought tip in the custom of
sufficient mmnrcea, he had never con
templated t'ie possibility of want. There
had seemed to be something noble and
high minded ia meeting without ques
tion all demands npon him, but when
the supply actually ran abort thing
wore a different aspect. Had he spent
his whole fcrtone simply in paving his
eon's drafts he would at least have had
the comfort of putting tho whole bur
den of the jsponsibility on his son's
shoulders, l it unfortunately the larger
part of tho li as was duo to private rich
ness of his cwn. When he found that
Ed'a rapacity was getting serious tho
'devoted gentleman betook himself to
Wall street and speculated the.ro. The
brokers treated him as Richard III pro
posed to treat hia wife they had him,
bnt they did not keep him long. His
peculation after he returned homo
Were probably mora edifying than those
be indulged in on the street
The revolting suspicion that he had
been a fool began to germinate in Mr.
Randolph's mind. This suspicion, which
ia the salvation of some men, is the de
struction of others. The integrity of
Mr. Randolph's moral discrimination
began to deteriorate from that hoar.
Having enacted all his life the part of
his own golden calf in the wilderness,
hia overthrow left bint destitute of any
criterion of conduct. He talked violent
ly and volubly abont his wrongs, and
discussed various schemes, more or less
impracticable and improper, of evading
hia liabilities. Beatrix was naturally
the chief sufferer from this ungainly
development ot her father's character,
and she waa also obliged to bear
, the brunt of most of the concrete
tmpleasantncss of their situation. She
bad to talk to the creditors, to extenuate
her father's ride of the case, to hold out
(air hopes and to smooth over disap
pointments, and when sho had wearied
herself in parleying with the enemy she
bad before her the yet harder task of
pacifying and encouraging her father,
wha had listened to the dialogue from
the head of the stairs, and (ell upon her
with a petty avalanche of complaints,
questions, suggestions, scoldings and
querulousness. Beatrix loved her father
With all her heart, bnt she was of a pen
etrating and well balanced mind, and
often had difficulty in not feeling
aahasned of him. Insensibly she began
to treat him as a fractious and super
sensitive child, who most at all costs be
humored and soothed, and when she felt
her own strength and patience almost
overtaxed she wonld only say to herself,
"No wonder poor father has to give up
when I find it so hard."
Bnt her troubles did not end with her
father. There was a certain Mr. Starcher,
the grocer's son; the grocer divided with
the innkeeper the highest social consid
eration of the village. He was a young
gontlemaa of highly respectable charac
ter and education. After leaving school
be had studied for year at a business
college in New York; he was a member
of the Young Men's Christian associa
tion, and a person of gravity and re
Unions convictions. A week or two after
Mr. Randolph's misfortune became
known he put on a suit of black clothes,
relieved by a faded blue necktie, and
called formally on Miss Randolph. Af
ter the first courtesies had been ex
changed be said that be desired ia the
first place to pot the minds of Miss Ran
dolph and her good father at ease re
garding the little account between bis
Ira and them. The money was not
needed, and so far as he was concerned
might remain unpaid indefinitely. "And
I should tike to say, too," be continued,
with a manner of .almost melancholy
(5
'in
J
Reynoldsville's New Public School Building 1896.
Kvrry family in KoynoMHvillo hIiouM have :i good picture of the tiew Kt-hool building. ricturt-H like tlm above,
printed on card board, can be neon red at The Star ollice for five cents apiece.
'serioufaieas unfl a husky voice, "Unit
groceries or nnytMng else I could got
you might bo yours, permanently, if 1
couldyon would that you might cm
sent to unite yenr lifu to mine. My fa-thor-oonteinplutos
retiring from active
business. I have never before sHlen to
you ot this, bnt in seasons of trouble
we siry things and I have often thought,
when we were singing in the choir to
gothar that ve might lie very happy
that it was our destiny. I have been
in New York and seen the rent wurld,
but you nro the wifo I would choose
from among tlirin all." Ho had a smooth,
round, fresh colored, innocent faco, that
seemed made for dimpling smiles, but
which never indulged in them.
Beatrix felt a sensation of absurd
alarm, liko the princess in the fairy tale,
under a spell of enchantment to liiismnto
herself in the most grotesque man
ner conceivable. Mr. Starcher was
so much in earnest, and so ludicrously
sure, apparently, that the success of his
suit was among the eternal certainties,
that a vision of a long wedded life with
htm, amid an atmosphere of meal tubs,
salt -cod and pickles, interspersed with
psalm tunes und solemn walks to and
from chnrch oa Sundays this desperate
panorama of inanimato existence rose up
before her in such vivid imaginative
vraisomblance that she was impelled to
protest against it with more than ade
quate vehemence. She gasped for breath,
rose from her chair and said: "Mr.
Starcher, it is terrible; I wonld
rather diet" Then, perceiving, com
passionately, that he would feel
cruelly wounded as soon as bis
astonished senses enabled him to
comprehend the significance of her
words, she added, "It would be wicked
for me ever to think of being raurriud;
you must see that I" Here she paused,
partly from emotion, and partly because
she was unable at the moment to be
think herself of any conclusive argu
ment in support of her assertion that,
for her, marriage would ever be a crime.
One certainly would not have drawn
that inference from the superficial indi
cations. A silence ensued, prickly with
spiritual discomfort. Mr. Starcher was
the first to find his tongue, and he car
ried off the honors of the encounter by
observing with tearful gentleness that
he should claim the privilege, just the
same, of not presenting the little ac
count for settlement. This magnanim
ity was none the less genuine Decant
the materials for it were slender, and
Beatrix long afterward found comfort
in recalling it to mind.
But there was yet another adversai y
for her to engage, and he was in some
respects more formidable than Mr.
Starcher, because his position and edu
cation rendered his pretensions less mon
strousnay, there even seemed to be a
sneaking disposition on Mr, Randolphs
part to accord him at least a negative
support. Mr. Vinal, the Unitarian cler
gyman, waa in fact, from an unworldy
point of view, tolerably inoffensive
match. He was studious, decorous and
endowed with grave and unobtrusive
manners. He was not handsome, but
there was a certain masouline concentra
tion in his close set gray eyes and long
narrow chin which was not in itself nn
pleasing. His voice, if somewhat harsh, waa
resonant and assured; and, coming as it
did from a chest apparently so incapa
etons, produced a sensation of agreeable
surprise. It would have been unreason
able not to respect the man, and churl-
ish awt to fast amiably disposed toward
hum but for Beatrix it was impossible
to love him. He lived in a little white
wooden house with green blinds, close
to the white, green blinded church. He
an Impost ng library,, in which
err?.
a 1 1 'j,-rv"?Sb- ' Wi - Jj 1 . ; .
: tvt i
it?
was not a single boik that Beatrix could
have brought herself to read, and the
main object of his endeavors wasfc appar
ently, to make all the rest of the world
think and live like himself. Moreover,
though he approved of music, he neither
knew nor cared anything abont it.
Mr. Vinal tiegan his operations by a
private interview with Mr. Randolph,
from which became forth with a coun
tenance whose serenity made Boatrix'a
heart sink. The dialogue which followed
was of extreme interest to both of them.
"Have you mode any plans regarding
your immediate fntnre?" the minister
began, in an unembarrassed and busi
nesslike tone. "We cunnot doubt, you
know, that providence, ia bringing this
affliction upon you, has had some wise
and merciful end in view. Yon have
talents; perhaps but for this ypa might
have kept them folded in the napkin.
Adversity forces us out of our natural
idleuuss, and stimulates ns to use what
means we have to win our own way in
the world. Have you thought of any
thing to do?"
Beatrix's spirits rose again; be was not
thinking of marrying her after all. "I've
been thinking I might give lessons on
the piano," she said. She happened to
be seated at that instrument, and as she
spoke she let ber white fingers drift down
the keyboard from bass to treble, from
depression to hope, from gloom to light,
winding up with a sort of interrogative
accent, as much as to say," Why shouldn't
I be good for something?"
"Very right," said Mr. Vinal; "I have,
nothing to object to in that; indeed 1
had intended to propose it You could
alsot unless the instructions of the late
Professor Dorimar were wholly value
less" "What?" interrupted Beatrix, in
voice which, supported as it was by a
chord sharply struck, made the minister
start in his chair. After a moment'
pause she said, her eyes still bright with
indignation: "Professor Dorimar, who in
now in heaven, taught me more antl
better things than you have ever dreame 1
oft He showed me that I have a soul!"
"Sorely I have done as much as that!"
faltered Mr. Vinal, who was confused,
by this sudden outburst
"No, for you know nothing about it,"
said Beatrix loftily. "You have only
been told that it is so you have read ir.
in books and you repeat what you have,
been told, and no doubt you think you
believe it But you can never know it!"
continued the young lady, with a floi r
emphasis on the verb, "because yon
can't understand music."
"I intended nothing against Professor
Dorimar," protested the minister, who
waa amated and daunted by the passion
and pride that he had unawares caused
to kindle in her lovely face. It waa
perhaps the first time he had occasion
to observe that the spirit of the old Vir
ginia Randolphs the descendants of tho
cavaliers was as haughty and untamed
in this tender hearted American girl aa
in that terrible ancestor of hers who
rode with Prince Rupert
Beatrix made no reply, bnt sat with
ber head erect and flushed cheeks, and
one band still on the piano keys, as if
ready once more to smite terror into the
soul of her visitor should he again step
amiss. A piano, it' seems, can be used
as a weapon of defense even against one
who has no comprehension of music.
"What I was about to remark waa
that yon might teach singing as well as
playing," said Mr. Vinal circumspectly.
"There are, I believe, a number of per
sons in the village who would be willing
under the circumstances to place their
children under your instruction."
"It is no favor to be taught mosio un
der any circumstances," returned Bea
trix, kindling again. "Whoever thinks
,t. ;,v'' i-7. i-j f--. iV .. ''.I'-
it ll I -J SVl L 'It iV - - uJ-?7. Li!J
fill it ask n :r-. ,K !" ' vj I'-mjuiv-
I I ..'l .'.U 4i ;LJ ii .. jC'l a t4aV
l t
..... '
'f 2.
otherwiso does not deserve to learn 1
And there are other places in the world
besides this miserable little village, and
people who are wiser and better!"
"Yon surely do not mean to intimate
that you contemplate going anywhere
else?" demanded the minister in some
consternation.
The fact was that such an idea had
never until that moment definitely pre
sented itself to Miss Randolph's mind;
but in her present aroused condition she
could see and entertain many possibili
ties that would have seemed audacious
or impracticable an hour before.
"Why not":" she said: I was not born
to pass my life here!"
"But I it has never been my intui
tion to leave here!" exclaimed Mr. Vinal
anxiously.
"What Riaixfies yon does not satisfy
me," answered tho young lady.
"But 5ur father, ia a conversation 1
have jut hud with him, has informed
me that he will not -oppose my address
ing yo with a view to marriage," said
the clergyman, in aoluinn tone.
"He would not have done so if he had
tbeen himself," replied Beatrix warmly.
-"He is broken down by trouble and sor
f ow, else you would not have ventured
to ask him) But I will tell you, since
he couW not, that I am not a piece of
land or furniture to bo sold for the sat
isfaction of creditors! I will not be a
"burden upon my father or any one;
but I have a eight to myself to
my ewn self! Do you think I
am to much afraid of being;
poor, cr of starving, that I would marry
anybody to escape it? I do stot love you!
I do mot love ym, Mr. Vinal, and so 1
will never marry you. I will have love
And .music or stothing! You do not
knowauo, sir; neue of you here seem t
knowaue. 1 am an American girl, ami.
I will not be bargained away or buried
..alive Jt'y any one! You slall see," sho
added, rising and walking to the veranda
window, "thdtd can make my own way,
and take care of myself! You shall aeo
that Profeasoi Dorimar taught me some
thing worth aLaowing!"
Mr. Vinal waa unable ko stand p
against a succession of blows like this
delivesed by one whom he had hereto
fore supposed to be the type of gentle
ness sad docility. His mind was nar
row and slow to adapt itself to new am
prossioort, and it would have taken him a
long time to frame a suitable reply to
Miss Randolph's unexpected .at tack. Bnt
the opportunity was not allowed him.
For as Beatrix stood by the window,
"with flashed cheeks and glowing eyes,
nd her heart beating harder than usual
with indignant emotion, her glance fell
upon two figures advancing arm in arm
rap the avenue. One of them ahe recog
nised, the other was unknown. But a
trange tingle of anticipation went
through her nerves. Something was go
ing to happen something great, some
thing for her! The crisis of her fate was
at hand, aad she was more taan reauy
for it Therefore she did not start or
cry ont, but only smiled with an air of -baantif
ul triumph, when Hamilton Joce
lyn, relinquishing the arm of his com
panion, ran op the stops of the veranda,
took both her hands in his, and aaid aa
be bent toward her: -
"My dear girl, I bring you fame and
fortnner
CHAPTER IIL
What became of Mr. Vinal Beatrix
never ascertained; she forgot about him
for several minutes and when she looked
, round for bia he waa gone. Meanwhile
Joeelyn introduced his companion to her
aa "Qen. Inlgo, a gentleman interested
in music;" and Mr. Randolph was ex
tracted from bia retreat, into which he
had withdrawn under the Impression
tbat more dyas were after him, and waa
rm-i mi si r sv;ri
.rtwu
-At
likewise made a partaker of tne general's
acquaintance. The latter appeared in
qnite a different light from that in w V,Si
we Brut encountered him. He had not
only been assiduously instructed by
Joeelyn as to the behavior he should put
on, but the fresh country air and scenery
and the tendency which all persons who
live in some measure by luck have to
hope for a fortunuto tnrn in their affairs
had combined to put him in a genial
and optimistic frame of mind. As a con
trast to the gloom in which they had
lived of late this sunny mood of the gen
eral's seemed even more paradisiacal
than would havobeert the case at a more
cheerful time. His jokes and comicali
ties hud an arch charm to tho ears and
eyes of Mr. Randolph and his daugh
ter that would have perplexed the manu
facturer of them.
A feeling of security and pleasant
promise diffused itself in the air, though
as yet there was no known foundation
for it. It was 4 o'clock in the after
noon and dinner was over, but in con
sideration of the city habits of the guests
preparations were niado for one of those
high teas which combino the best feat
ures of all meals. In the meantime the
old ex-Virginian rummaged out a bottle
of cluret (which the general secretly
Wished had been whisky), and proceeded
to dispense it with something of the
courtly air that hod belonged to him bj
tfore misfortune and misanthropy had
(marked him for their own. But his
bospitulity was tempered by a haunting
suspense. What was the general, and
what did he intend? Evidently he must
have hod a purpose of no ordinary
urgency to bring him all the way from
New York city hither. His smiling
bearing forbade the supposition that the
purpose could be a hostile one, but why
and in whut way should it be friendly?
It was only by an heroio effort that Mr.
Randolph subdued the evidence of his
curiosity, and perhaps did not succeed
in disguising it so completely but that
his guests could amuse themselves by
detecting it
At length, when the bottle was n ear
ing its last glass, Joeelyn turned to the
young hostess with his most fascinating
manner and said: "My dear Beatrix,!
wonder whether your piano is in tune?
The general and I are pining for some
music. The fall season hasn't begun yet,
you know, and positively I don't believe
either he or I have heard any singing
worthy of . the name for four months
eh, general?"
"Four months! I should think not, by
Jupiter!" returned the general, rubbing
his nose pleasantly. "One doesn't hear
good singing as often as that, my dear
boy. "I'll just tell you," he continued,
turning to Beatrix, "a thing my dear old
friend Dorimar said to me once"
"Was Professor Dorimar a friend of
yours?" excUimed Beatrix, with sun
shine streaming from her eyes.
"Well, I guess it was a good while be
fore you was born that I knew him
first," said the general gallantly; "and
there was nobody had much to say about
music after himr'
"Oh, I'll sing for you as much aa you
wish!" rejoined the young lady, all alive
with generous pleasure. "Thinking of
Professor Dorimar always makes me feel
as if I could do anything.' She led the
way, as she spoke, to the inner ait
ting room, the scene of ber late battle
with Mr. Vinal. The gentlemen fol
lowed, and Joeelyn took the opportunity
to murmur to Inigo, "What do yon think
of her?"
"If she could sing as she looks," re-'
ponded that personage, 'Td never bother
my bead again about the Russian. The
funny thing is this gal looks a little as
the Russian vould like to, if the could.
But the bej.uties can't do anything but
look beautiful, as a rule. Well, we'll
j. . . .... j. v j .A.. : ilA
see. I might liko to lmvo ber for opera
boulTo, anyhow."
"Were you on the southern side dur
ing the war, general?" Inquired Mr. Ran
dolph, as they sat flown.
"Humph! my commission was nn En
glish one," the general replied, with
military presence of mind. "Hadn't the
luck to see your country till utter the
racket was over." Hero ho endeavored
to catch Jocelyn's eye, In order to relieve
his own feelings by a wink, but at that
moment Beatrix's fingers touched tho
keys, and thenceforward nothing was
possible but to listen.
It need not be asked what, she sang on
this momentous occasion. Her method
and quality would have been apparent
tn almost any selection. Hut the phases
of emotion through which she had re
cently passed were Bnrj;injr toward that
expression which only inu-ic can iilTurd,
and with deep drawn breath and ex
ultant heart sho launched into a a--age
from one of those grand works of the
lost century which all the intellectual
brilliance and pictorial complexity of
the modern gospel of liue-ic cannot flip
plant nor outweigh.
As the mighty strains won control of
the listeners' senses all things seemed
to undergo a noble tmnsfonual ion.
There was a feeling of enlargement and
exaltation, what was triliiii tand i,-t,ol.lo
faded out of sight, or was absorbed into
the prevailing harmony of ordered
beauty. Passion gained majesty from
restraint. Sorrow throbbed with tint
delight of joy, and joy assumed tho
dignity of sorrow. The mystic u-iily
of art, which grasps the elements of
things, and gives them speech and mean
ing; the utterance of the divine reason,
which transcends the bondage of words;
the language that belongs to no man,
but to mankind this magic and mys
tery of song, flowing forth in its grand
eur and enchantment from a simple
girl's throat, cast over all a spell of won
der and delight, and but for the pro
found warrant of its beauty wonld have
seemed miraculous.
Tho room in which the auditors sat
appeared to assnme finer proportions?
tho very ch;.irs and tables were endowed
with elegance, and the persons them
selves were conscious of a certain state
liness in their attitndes and movements,
and of being uplifted to a higher sphere
of thought and feeling than was native
to them. And the singer was transfig
ured; for the musio which touched tho
others as tt were from withont was made
the very form and fiber of her soul. It
magnified and strengthened her; it an
nulled the merely individual and acci
dental limitations of her being, and
bronght her into that large, impersonal
state which marks the artist in seasons
of inspiration. So was it with the py
thoness of old, who, in such measure as
her private personality was subdued and
obliterated by the god, took on the god's
own superhuman guise of majesty.
Beatrix, when she sang, rose above
Beatrix, and became the fearless and
self unconscious instrument of her art's
expression. Whatever reverence and
dignity belonged to music belonged in
such moments to the musician, and she
bestowed the faculty of reverence upon
those who were before incapable of it.
The general had at first put on a strict
ly critical air, aa of one to whom pleas
ures and social amenities are one tiling,
and very well in their place, but busi
ness quite another. After two or three
minutes, however, he had forgotten all
about every thing except the rise and fall, .
the swell and resonance, the airy gatn
bolings and the strong, melodious poise
and movement of this matchless voice.
There is a point in the enjoyment of art
where we cease to draw comparisons,
and only feel that we are following the
artist's charmed footsteps into hitherto
unexplored regions of beauty and fasci
nation. Our bnrden of responsibility "
falls from our shoulders because we are '
conscious that what we now see or har '
is better than anything we have hereto
fore known. This recognition of true
mastery, wherever and whenever met
with, is among the surest signs of knowl
edge and experience. A fool will find
fault with Raphael, and chat throngh a
symphony by Beethoven.
Oen. Inigo was not a fooL He was a
vulgar Jew, of uncertain nationality,
whose past history and private life would
not bear examination, but he knew what
music and musical genius are, and he
could estimate accurately the rarity aud
value of the discovery which Jocelyut
had led him to make. Accidents aside,
this unknown and nnsuspecting girl
would be one of the great prime donne
of the world. It was not a matter of .
opinion, but of certainty. Indeed th
general flattered himself that no one be
side himself and Dgrimur would be able
to understand how great she really was. '
TO HK OONTINl'KD
Aboat th Smma.
"By the wsy, where is the major
nowadays?" asked the mutual friend.
"He is in an institution for the treat
ment of the feeble minded," said tho
colonel, with a trace of acrimony in bia
voice.
"Von don't say!"
"Well, sab, they don't call the place
by that name, sab. But you can are for
yo'self that it amounts to the same
thing. It ia a water cure establishment,
sab. " Cincinnati Enquirer.
When using medicine droppers, tho
ordinary glass tube with a rubber bulb
fitted on, it is well to remember that 80
drops make one teaspoonfuL
Salt is a good barometer. When, it ia
amp, rain is probable.