| Show dhe rhe emst erast PIANO IN IH THE ehe mining eining CAMP A t was christmas eve in a call nia mining town in 1858 and skin according to his hia custom had rated his gambling house hoube with iga gs of mountain cedar and a ab whose crimson berries did not m a bad imitation of english ily the piano was covered with ar rg greens greenb reens and all that was want to completely nil fill the cup of gos IB s oon con contentment estment was a man to ly that piano christmas night and no plano piano ander he sald said this athis is a nice antry try for a christian to live in as setting letting a piece of paper he scrawl khe the words loo dollars beward reward el a compliant planer player 21 this stuck on the musio music rack and ugh the bho inscription glared at 0 the quintera qu entera at 0 the room until mid ht h t it failed to draw any musician ca the shell 30 0 o the merrymaking merry making went on the arity grew apace men danced t baug bang to the music of the squeaky die dle le and worn out guitar guitars as the ly y crowd within tried to drown i homing of the storm without suddenly they became aware of the pres presence s nce of a white haired man crouching a near mean the fireplace his hla garments such as aa were left were wet with malting snow enow and he be had a half starved half crazed expression hahold he heid held hla hia thin trembling hands bands toward the are and the light of the blaz biaz blazing ingwood wood made them almost trans traus parem he looked about him once in a while whiles as aa if in search bearch of r something som bom ething and his hia pre presence tence cast such a chill over the place that gradually the sound of revelry was hushed hashed and it seemed that this waif of the storm had brought in with it all the gloom and coldness of the warring elements godkin skin mixing up a cup of hot egg nog advanced and remar remarked keds cheerily here inhere stranger braca brace cupl up this la the mai ral rai stutt stunt the man drained the cup cupy smacked his and seemed more at home been prospecting eh ch oat in the mountains caught in the storm adorm lively night this pretty lad bad bald baid the man anat must feel pretty dryal dry the man looked at his streaming clothes and laughed laugh eds as aa if gob Goa klas remark was a sarcasm how long out four days hungry the man rose up and walking over to the lanch counter fell to work upon roast bear lear devouring it like any wild animal would have done dene As meat and drink and warmth began to permeate the c t tranger he seemed to expand and bri brighten Ahten up his features lost their pallor and he grew more and more content with the idea that he was not in the grave As he be underwent thesa these changes the people about him got merrier and happier and carew off the temporary feeling of depression which he be had bad laid pau pou them presently his eye fell upon the pano piano Wh tea teb the player he asked lever leven bever had auy any said goskin blushing at the confession 1 I used to piny iday when I 1 was young 32 goskin almost fainted at the admission stranger do tackle it and give us a tune nary a man in the camp ever had the nere to wrestle with that music box his pulse beat faster for he feared that theman the man men would refuse lii ull ill do the beat I 1 can cal 2 he said sald there was no stool but seeing a candle box he drew draw jt it up and seated himself before the instrument it only required a few seconds for a bush to come over the room the old coon is going to give the thing a rattle 12 the sight of a man at the piano plano was something so unusual that even the faro dealer dealers who was about to take a 50 bet on the tray paused and did not reach forthe for the money men stopped drinking with the glasses at their lips lipa conversa tion appeared to have been struck witha with a hort borl of paral paralysis and cardil cards were no longer shuffled the old man brushed back his long white whits locks looked up to the ceiling half closed his eye eyes and in it a mystic sort of reverie pressed his hib fingers over the keys he touched a single note yet the sound thrilled the room it wag was the key to his improvisations and as be I 1 wore wo re his hia chords together the music laid faid its spell upon every ear and heart re he felt telu his way over the keys like a man treading uncertain paths pathe but he gained confide nce as he progressed and presently present ly bent to his work like a master the instrument was not in exact ture but the ars wars of hib his audience through long disuse did not detect anything radically wrong they heard a procession of grand chords a suggestion of Paradie eaic ealo melodies here and therland there yand sand and it was enough bae sae him counter with his hib left said an old rough enraptured ache he calls the tune every time on he the upper end of the board re a man with a stack of chips in his bis hand band the player wandered onn oil into the old ballads he had bad heard at home all the sad and melancholy and touching songs that came up like dreams of childhood this unknown player drew from the keys his hands kneaded their hearts like dough and squeezed out cut the tears as from a wet sponge As the strains flowed one upon the other they baw saw their homes odthe of the long ago reared roared again they were playing once more where the apple bloe boms bomb ank dank through the soft boft air to join the violets violeta on the turf of the old oid new england states they baw haw the glories of the wisconsin maples and the haze of the indian summer blending their hues together they saw the heather of the scottish hills bills the white cilma cliffs of britain and heard the sullen roar roan of the sea bea as it b beat leat udon unon their memories vi vaguely then came all the old christmas carols carola such buch as they had bad sung in the church thirty years yeara before the subtle music that brings up the glimmer of wax taper the solemn shri ehri nep nef the evergreen holly mis cieto and choirs then the remorseless performer planted his stab in every heart with home bome sweet home when the player ceased the crowd slunk away from him there was no more revelry left in his audience each man wanted to sneak off to his cabin and write the old folks a letter the day was breaking as the lat alt man left the places place and the player laying him down on the piano fell asleep 1 I hay bay pardi said goarin dont doni you want a little rest agi 1 I feel tired the old man said sald perhaps let mo me rest here the matter of a day or so 21 he walked behind the tho bar where some old blankets were lying and stretched himself upon tham iti III 1 I feel pretty sick sich I 1 guess gucas I 1 ont ont out last long ive lye got a brother down the ravine his names driscoll drle drig coll he don dont donst it know pm im here can you ge get him here before morning pd id like to see his face once more before I 1 die goarin started up at the mention of the name gebe libe he your bro bno brothel ill uli have him here in half an hour As goarin dashed out in the storm the musician pressed his hand band to his side and groaned goskin heard the word aurryl Hur and sped down the ravine to dri Dzis colls cabin it was quite light in the room when the gwo two men returned dris soli boll was as pale as death iggy my goal I 1 hope hes beb alicel 1 I wronged him when we lived in england twenty years agos ngo ago they saw the old oid mm had drawn the tha blankets over bis bia face the two stoop a moment awed by the thought that he might be dead goskin lifted the blankets and pulled it down astonished there was no one therel there rf it gone gonel cried driscoll wildly gonel gone echoed goskin pulling out his cash drawer ren ten thousand dollars in the sack and the lord knows he how vr much loose change in the drawert dra werl the next day the boya boys got out following a horses horbes track trank through the snow and lost them in the trail leading toward pioche there was wab a man missing from the camp it was the three card monte used to deny point blank that he could play the scale one day they found a wig of white hair and called to mind when the ggs cla tranger stranger had pushed thore those locks back when he looked towards the ceiling coiling for Inspiration ont he night of december 1858 musical credit and trade review |
