UCSB LIBRARY 
 
 - *- - - 
 
 7-
 
 torg about 
 
 BY CHARLES BARNARD. 
 
 Through darkness riseth light. THE ELIJAH. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 MUSICAL HERALD COMPANY, Music HALL. 
 1880.
 
 Copyright, /SSo, 
 
 by 
 Eben Tourjit,
 
 PREFATOR Y NOTE. 
 
 The author would respectfully acknowledge the. 
 valuable assistance of Messrs. Hook 6- Hastings, 
 organ-builders, of Boston, in preparing certain por- 
 tions of the technical parts of this work. 
 
 THE A UTHOR. 
 New York, September, 1880. 
 
 [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY THB AUTHOR.]
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The harvest now is over, the summer days are gone. Elijah. 
 
 IT was snowing fast, and the dimly-lighted 
 streets of the little town were deserted. Even 
 the shop-keepers thought it useless to keep open 
 on such a bad night, and were already putting 
 up their shutters, though it was only seven 
 o'clock. It was a good night to keep within, 
 a good night to sleep, and it seemed as If the 
 entire community intended to improve the oppor- 
 tunity early. On a wooden fence in Main Street 
 was a single poster, setting forth, in small type, 
 the fact that there would be a " grand concert " 
 that evening at the Music Hall. A sorry night 
 for a concert in a rural town.
 
 g ZEGELDA ROMAN1EF. 
 
 The Music Hall was an old church fallen to 
 base uses, and now half opera house, half lecture 
 room. It had a stage and curtain and three sets 
 of dilapidated scenery, and some hundreds of 
 second-hand seats. There was one gas-lamp 
 flaring in a broken lantern over ^ the wooden steps 
 that led up to the battered door, marked with a 
 tin sign "Main Entrance." The snow lay in a 
 winrow on the sidewalk, and not a footstep had 
 broken its shape. To the rear or stage door, 
 on a back street, there came a party of five 
 people, two men, two women, and one child, with 
 one trunk and two hand-bags between them. 
 A boy with a lantern opened the door, and led 
 the way up the crazy stairs to a barn-like room 
 with neither carpet nor fire. On the dingy wall 
 was a single gas-lamp in a wire cage, and in the 
 corner two broken-back chairs. The two men 
 placed the trunk on the floor, and then followed 
 the boy across the dusty stage to the hall. In 
 a corner under the gallery, standing before a big 
 stove, they found the janitor of the hall.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 7 
 
 The two women sat down in the wretched 
 dressing-room, one in silent despair, the other 
 with a stolid patience that seemed to care noth- 
 ing for the unhappy plight which they were in. 
 The child sat on the trunk, and stared at the 
 lamp in its cage on the wall. A strange girl, 
 apparently more than a child, and yet not quite 
 a woman. She was thin and pale as if half-fed 
 and ill-clothed ; yet her black eyes seemed to burn 
 with a restless glow, as if she had a brave spirit 
 touched with fire. With all the poverty, priva- 
 tion, and misery of her life, she was happy. She 
 beat time to some melody in her mind on the 
 old trunk with fingers that were thin and long. 
 She seemed to anticipate something. Very soon 
 the lights would be turned up, the people would 
 throng into the place, she would put on her 
 white dress and would sing for them. Uncon- 
 sciously, her lips parted, and her voice seemed to 
 ripple, in half whisper, half music, a sparkling 
 stream of notes, a tawny brook flowing through 
 shady woods, and flecked with sunshine.
 
 g ZEGELDA ROMANIES. 
 
 The elder woman listened to her for a moment, 
 and said aloud, 
 
 "There's a fortune in them notes, some day." 
 
 The child's mother smiled in a sickly, almost 
 ghastly manner, and said, 
 
 " So her father has said, but the public seems 
 to care nothing for them. Even her father has 
 lost heart. This last trip has taken all the cour- 
 age out of him. We never met with such disas- 
 ter before." 
 
 The elder woman actually seemed to snarl at 
 her. "Whose fault is it? I'm sure my husband 
 put up all the capital for the trip. You said 
 there was money in the girl? Where is it now?" 
 
 "You said yourself, just now, there was money 
 in her voice." 
 
 "I said there would be a fortune in her some 
 day, not now." 
 
 The child stopped singing; and her mother 
 shook her head dubiously, and made no reply. 
 Nobody believed in the child, except its mother. 
 Its father had faith in the girl's future at one
 
 Z EG ELD A ROMA NIE f. Q 
 
 time, -but that time had gone. The room was 
 dark and cold, but for the girl it was nothing. 
 The concert would begin soon. Her father 
 would sit at the piano, and she would catch up 
 the notes, and repeat them with happy ease. 
 What could be more beautiful than to sing? 
 
 "Isn't it almost time for me to dress, mother?" 
 
 The elder woman laughed in a sneering man- 
 ner, and the mother said wearily, 
 
 " Wait a little, child. We must see what sort 
 of a house we shall get." 
 
 Just then the two men returned, with the jani- 
 tor of the hall. The child rose at once, for she 
 knew the trunk must be opened to get out their 
 concert dresses. The elder of the two men un- 
 locked the trunk, and took out a well-worn black 
 dress coat. 
 
 "If that will settle the bill-poster's claim, you 
 may take it." 
 
 The child went to her father, and took his 
 hand. A vague sense of impending trouble filled 
 her heart. Perhaps there would be no concert,
 
 10 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEP. 
 
 after all. The others looked on in stony indif- 
 ference. This was the end, the bottom round of 
 the ladder. There was nothing more to be done, 
 and it made little difference what became of any- 
 thing. When a ship is going down, nobody is 
 very particular to save the sails or furniture. 
 
 Round and round the country, from town to 
 town, from hall to hall, they had travelled, ap- 
 pearing night after night to smaller and smaller 
 audiences. When they set out, they had seven 
 trunks. This was the last one left. The janitor 
 examined the coat carefully, and said slowly, 
 
 " I guess he will call it square for that, seeing 
 you had so few bills. I guess you have had bad 
 luck, and I'll let the rent go. The last concert 
 company here lost forty dollars, and they had a 
 great deal of printing. Fact is, our folks don't 
 care much for good music. The minstrels showed 
 here last night to $120, not a woman in the 
 house. I reckon it about dreened the town for 
 this week. It's only a hundred-dollar place, at 
 best."
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA XI EP. 
 
 II 
 
 He helped them with the trunk down the 
 stairs to the street ; and then they went away 
 down the steep, slippery street, towards the river, 
 in dull and heart-broken silence. The men car- 
 ried the trunk between them to the hotel where 
 they had all slept the night before, and the 
 women and child crept slowly after them. They 
 placed the trunk on the hall floor, where they 
 well knew it would remain. It would perhaps 
 settle their bill, and that was the end of it. 
 
 There was a brief consultation in the cold and 
 cheerless office, some whispered words with the 
 sleepy clerk, and then the entire party went out 
 into the night, into the snow-blinded street, with- 
 out baggage, homeless, houseless, and apparently 
 penniless. Before them, just across the way, was 
 the river, black and vast in the night. The wind 
 sighed in the naked trees, but the river was si- 
 lent, swift, and cold. On either hand, to the right 
 and left, stretched a long row of blinking gas- 
 lamps, marking where the street led away into 
 the open country.
 
 12 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 The party was at the end of its resources. 
 They had parted with everything, and could keep 
 up no longer. The manager was the first to take 
 the decisive step. They were reduced to that 
 condition where all cohesion was lost, and the 
 troupe would go to pieces. He spoke to his wife, 
 who had acted the part of the ballad-singer in 
 their concerts, and they both began to move off 
 to the right down the street leading to the open 
 country. 
 
 "I dare say we can find a skiff somewhere 
 along the river; and we'll head off the night-boat, 
 and leave these wretches to shift for themselves." 
 
 The woman seemed to agree to this, and in a 
 moment they were walking away, leaving the 
 father and mother* of the child alone in the 
 street 
 
 The father and the musical leader of the 
 party ran after them for a few steps, and asked 
 where they were going. 
 
 "It's none of your business," said the manager. 
 "When it gets down to this, every man looks for 
 himself."
 
 ZEGF.LDA ROMA.VIEF. j^ 
 
 With that, they were gone, lost in the dark- 
 ness. 
 
 The child began to cry piteously ; for the damp 
 snow chilled her feet, and she had neither muff 
 nor gloves. 
 
 Suddenly, the mother snatched up the child in 
 her arms, and moved across the street towards 
 the river. 
 
 " Where are you going with that child ? " said 
 her husband. 
 
 "I'm going to mend her misery and mine or 
 end it." 
 
 ******** 
 
 The captain and pilot both stood by the wheel 
 in the pilot-house, looking out on the storm and 
 darkness. The throb of the engine came slowly 
 and monotonously, and the vast bulk of the 
 steamer moved silently through the black water 
 and invisible snow. The hills on either side 
 were dim ghosts of a phantom country. It was 
 the last trip down, and the few belated travellers 
 had wisely sought their comfortable state-rooms 
 for the night.
 
 14 ZEGELDA ROMANIES. 
 
 Suddenly there was a faint light dancing on 
 the water just ahead, and at the same instant the 
 lookout, on the deck below, sang out, 
 
 "Boat ahead, sir!" 
 
 The captain pulled the bell, and the engine 
 stopped. They must go slow on such a night at 
 the slightest hint of danger. The silence of the 
 river, the night, and the falling snow, was appal- 
 ling. A door opened below, and the second 
 officer came on deck. 
 
 "What do you make her out?" 
 
 "Small boat, sir. Shows a light. Seems to be 
 in distress." 
 
 "Keep her to port a little," said the captain to 
 the pilot. Then he leaned out of the window, 
 and said, 
 
 " Stand by below, with a line to pick her up." 
 
 "For heaven's sake, take us aboard!" cried a 
 voice from the water. 
 
 The bell rang again, and the engine moved 
 slowly, and white sheets of creamy water swept 
 past the bows, glistening in the steamer's lamps. 
 More men came out on deck. A rope was skil-
 
 ZEGF.LDA ROMANIES. jC 
 
 fully thrown and caught, and in a moment the 
 frail, open boat was drawn up alongside. 
 
 " That was a crazy trip for a man and wom- 
 an," said the second officer. "You may be 
 thankful we saw you." 
 
 The engine throbbed again, the skiff was cast 
 adrift, and the people hastily sought the shelter 
 of the saloon. 
 
 The rescued party found the captain's office, 
 and paid for a state-room for man and wife and 
 two passages to the city. Very few people saw 
 this singular incident, and in the quiet of the 
 night it was soon forgotten. t 
 
 They sat up in their state-room for a long 
 time, carefully counting- a large roll of bills. 
 
 "We did pretty well, take it all together." 
 
 "Yes; but I still think it would have been better 
 to hang on to the chikl a little longer. There's 
 more money in her yet, when her voice is trained." 
 
 " Make hay while you can, is my motto," re- 
 plied the husband. 
 
 With this remark, they hid the money in their 
 clothing, and retired for the night.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 He that shall endure to the end shall be saved. Elijah. 
 
 THE avenue was thronged with people just 
 returning from afternoon-service. The churches 
 had been well attended, for the day was pleasant, 
 though cloudy; and it was midwinter, when all 
 the fashionable world was in town, busy over its 
 idle nothings, and eager to go to church, hear 
 the music, and be comfortably saved from its 
 various sins. From the doors of St. Clement's 
 came out a multitude that, in its strictly proper 
 way, considered itself representative of the saints 
 on earth in good social standing. If there were 
 sinners among them, they descended from the 
 organ-loft. In the church vestibule, gloomy with 
 stained glass, there was a little buzz of excite- 
 ment. Such a thing had never happened before. 
 St. Clement's had been scandalized. The very
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. j^ 
 
 gargoyles on the eaves looked the more ugly than 
 ever to think such doings had been allowed under 
 the sacred roof of which they were such pious 
 servants. Even the plaster angels round the base 
 of the dome had turned pale, and shook the dust 
 from their folded wings in holy horror. 
 
 Lovers had sat in the dark corners, and held 
 each other's hands during the sermon. Boy- 
 lovers had passed caramels to little girls, and 
 even baby-sinners- had whispered in prayer-time. 
 These were sins that would doubtless be pun- 
 ished in due time, but they were as nothing to a 
 more blatant crime that had defiled the very air 
 of the church. The larger part of the congrega- 
 tion frowned, and hoped something would be 
 done about it, and then went peacefully home 
 with a comfortable sense of duty done. A few 
 remained behind to see what would happen. 
 They gained but little ; for, when the choir 
 came down, they were one by one invited pri- 
 vately into the vestry, there to meet the church- 
 music committee. There was the organist, a
 
 i8 
 
 Z EG ELD A 
 
 tender young thing, lacking in everything save 
 fingers; a rather gorgeous soprano, a timid little 
 alto, a black-whiskered bass, and the tenor. He 
 deserves brief mention. He was young, well- 
 made, though pale and thin, and with a faint 
 suggestion of poverty about his dress ; a man 
 of quiet manners and placid temperament ; evi- 
 dently, a man who thought much and said little. 
 
 The music-committee was composed of a law- 
 yer who could not read music, a banker who had 
 neither voice nor ear, two merchants who knew 
 nothing of music, and the minister of the church. 
 The minister was really the only man who knew 
 anything whatever about music, and yet they 
 were met to sit in judgment on the choir. 
 
 St. Clement's was passing through the bar- 
 barous age. In due time would come another 
 and a wiser who would make all things new. 
 
 " It appears from good evidence," said the 
 lawyer, "that the music you gave to-day, both at 
 the morning and afternoon service, was not suit- 
 able to the time or place."
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. jg 
 
 The banker added that the music, though fitted 
 to a hymn, reminded one of the opera from 
 which it had been taken, and thus led to 
 thoughts very far from those of the hymn. 
 
 The minister regretted this had happened, and 
 asked what the choir had to say. 
 
 Both ladies were voluble in protesting that 
 they had no choice in the matter. They sang 
 what was placed before them. 
 
 "You are ladies, and had a lady's influence. 
 Did you use it ? " 
 
 Well, no. They sang the music given to them. 
 
 The bass singer remarked that he didn't see 
 that it made any difference. Music was music. 
 
 "All right," said the lawyer: "you can sing 
 elsewhere." 
 
 This brought a wail from the soprano and 
 tears from the alto, though she strove hard to 
 hide them. The organist made some feeble pro- 
 test, and the bass insisted he should stand by his 
 contract. 
 
 "Then you had better read it again," re- 
 marked the banker.
 
 2O 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA. VIE P. 
 
 The tenor said nothing. He had protested at 
 the rehearsal, the night before, against the use of 
 the music, yet he would not take an advantage 
 over his co-laborers. It was better to suffer an 
 injustice than to do an unkindness. 
 
 The contract between the choir had been care- 
 fully drawn, and, by one of its sections, such an 
 offence as this dissolved it instantly. 
 
 " You will please call at my office to-morrow," 
 said the banker, "for your pay up to date. You 
 have permission to withdraw." 
 
 The five went out in silence ; and the janitor, 
 with a grin of ill-disguised malice, closed the 
 doors of the church upon these miserable sin- 
 ners cast out into outer darkness. 
 
 It was indeed outer darkness, for the night and 
 a storm had come. As they gathered in the de- 
 serted street, by the light of a gas lamp, the 
 soprano gave the organist a rather acrid piece of 
 her mind ; and, like the small creature that he 
 was, he turned and stung her with the remark 
 that the particular piece of music that had made
 
 ZE GEL DA ROMA NIEF. 
 
 21 
 
 all the trouble had been sung at her request. 
 The little alto was in tears. Poor child ! Her 
 lines were hard. The pay from the church was 
 absolutely her only means of support ; and now 
 she was thrown out of it, and through no fault of 
 her own. 
 
 " See what your stupidity has brought us to ! " 
 said ' the bass, shaking his fist at the organist. 
 "I've half a mind to thrash you." 
 
 " Oh ! Come now, gentlemen," remonstrated 
 the tenor, " let us have no scene in the street. 
 It won't help the matter in the least. I dare say 
 we can all find new places. " 
 
 For the moment, the organist made no reply. 
 It was afterward reported he said many bitter 
 and ill-natured things against the whole choir. 
 Rumor also has it that for this he was privately 
 thrashed by the soprano's husband. It is to be 
 hoped that this last was true. 
 
 There was nothing more to be said or done ; 
 and the organist, bass, soprano, and alto went 
 their several ways in silence, leaving the tenor
 
 22 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 alone in the walk, in the shadow of the great 
 church. 
 
 Here is a point in human experience, a mere 
 episode in art-life and apparently trifling, but 
 really wide-reaching in its influence, and affecting 
 one life, at least, for all time. We strive and do 
 and bear, and life moves on, and our doings and 
 strivings bear strange fruits. Even our burdens 
 sometimes blossom with unexpected flowers. 
 
 " If you please, sir, could you give me some- 
 thing to get a night's lodging?" 
 
 The tenor turned to see who spoke, and found 
 a child, thinly and poorly clad, and with a scared 
 and starved lo'ok in her eyes, at his side. Beg- 
 ging was the curse of the city ; and he was on 
 the point of turning away in disgust and anger, 
 when a woman advanced into the circle of light 
 under the street lamp, and said quickly, 
 
 "I must ask pardon, sir, for the child; but 
 the fact is we are actually suffering for food 
 and shelter." 
 
 The young man felt in his pocket for a coin,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 2 * 
 
 and then remembered that he was almost as poor 
 as they. 
 
 " I know nothing about you," said he ; " but 
 the child seems to be really suffering." 
 
 " Father was killed some time ago, when we 
 were walking on the railroad." 
 
 " We buried him, sir," added the woman, " in 
 the town where we were, in a pauper's grave ; 
 and then we two travelled on to the city. We 
 have neither friends nor home nor money." 
 
 " I live with a woman who is a milliner. She 
 has a spare room. I'll borrow it for you for to- 
 night. Perhaps it will be a fairer day to-morrow 
 for us all." 
 
 " I knew he would help us," said the child. 
 " And, mother, he speaks in song words. He 
 means it will not snow, and we shall find help 
 to-morrow." 
 
 The young man drew her to the light, and 
 looked into her upturned face for a moment in 
 silence. 
 
 "Child, you have the art instinct. I'll be your 
 friend. Come, let us go home."
 
 24 ZEGELDA ROMANIES. 
 
 Is charity always wise ? In the case of the 
 young man taking the strange woman and her. 
 child to his home, it seemed like charity without 
 reason and altogether foolish. Whether it was 
 wise or foolish, events must prove. His landlady 
 considered the affair almost an affront. The 
 woman and child were total strangers. Why 
 should she admit them to her house ? She lis 
 tened to their story ; and, though her sympathy 
 was touched, she, was unwilling to take them in 
 till her lodger had said he would be responsible! 
 for them, and even then, after assigning them a 
 room next his own, carefully locked up the rest 
 of the house against them. 
 
 The morning broke late and cloudy ; and the 
 young man rose before daylight, and, having made 
 a cup of coffee by a gas-stove, and eaten a loaf 
 of bread left by the baker at the door, he sat 
 down to examine the situation. 
 
 To understand all that passed in his mind, we 
 must glance at the events of his previous life. 
 Born upon a farm in Illinois, Sebastian Strove
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 2 C 
 
 had, until he was sixteen years of age, known 
 little of life except its toil. His father had emi- 
 grated from Norway when quite young, and had, 
 by a life of labor, secured a home and farm and 
 family. During his whole life in this country, 
 his range of thought had just about covered the 
 farm, and no more. Upon his farm and crops, 
 he had spent his life. The result was admirable 
 in nearly every sense. If he had failed in any 
 sense, time would show it in his children's lives. 
 He had married young, and there were many 
 children, good, commonplace boys and girls, of 
 no special interest to any one except their par- 
 ents, save one, the eldest born, who had taken 
 his father's name, Sebastian. 
 
 While his father's antecedents were clear, his 
 mother's history, previous to her marriage, was 
 somewhat obscure. She had come to the Illi- 
 nois township from Worcester, Massachusetts. At 
 least, she said so ; and Western hospitality, that 
 seldom asks who the visitor is, but only what he 
 or she can do, had been extended to her on
 
 2 g ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 every side. She had sufficient money to pay her 
 way, and was a quiet and retiring young woman, 
 able and willing to work and maintain her own 
 place in society. She was well educated, could 
 sing, and, it was said, could play the piano. This 
 last could not be proved, for the reason that 
 there was no piano in the town. She readily 
 found her niche in society as the village school- 
 mistress, but it was not for long. She received 
 several offers of marriage, including one from the- 
 rising young Norwegian, Sebastian Strove ; and, 
 after some delay, she had accepted him. 
 
 The farm was then little more than rough soil ; 
 the homestead, a log cabin. The farmer's heart 
 was set on improving both ; and his wife proved, 
 indeed, a helpmeet. He was greatly pleased 
 with her housewifely ways, and he gave her as 
 much of his heart as could be spared from the 
 farm. 
 
 For the wife, the log cabin was a safe haven 
 of rest, a secure shelter from the terrible storm 
 that had passed over her young life. She cared
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 2 7 
 
 only for peace and forgetfulness, a hiding-place 
 from all who had known her in distant Massa- 
 chusetts. She was a silent woman, doing her 
 whole duty to her husband and children, and 
 loving them all, particularly the eldest born boy, 
 whom she regarded with a kind of blind, unrea- 
 soning passion. 
 
 Other children came in time ; but, for some 
 reason, she never seemed to care for them as for 
 the eldest born. He was unlike his brothers or 
 sisters either in looks or temperament. He was 
 from his boyhood a dreamer and idler, a strange 
 child, who loved to roam abroad over the flat, 
 unlovely fields, silent and alone, or with a stick 
 in hand beating time to some wild melodies he 
 sang or whistled. The mother saw him grow up, 
 first with fear, then with admiration. He had 
 the face and manner of one whom she wished 
 to forget and could never forget. Sometimes a 
 tone in the child's voice, an expression on his 
 face, startled her. It was so like one whom she 
 should hate and once did love. For the father,
 
 2 g ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 the boy was a sore vexation and trial. He would 
 not work except on compulsion, and this was a 
 grievous sin. The other boys were good enough, 
 and would go for the cows or help in the field. 
 The eldest boy was an idler, a disgrace to his 
 father's name. He had been to school ; but he 
 made no progress there, and he was taken back 
 to the farm. His mother had wished him to stay 
 longer at school, but his father objected. His 
 mother then began to teach him herself in secret ; 
 and at last, seeing the passionate love of his wife 
 for the boy, he had consented that she might 
 teach him one day every week. Other children 
 had come ; but, fpr some reason, she never gave 
 them the special education she bestowed on him. 
 So it happened that, in time, he was much better 
 educated than his brothers and sisters. Among 
 other things, she had taught him all she knew of 
 music. 
 
 In time, the mother's instruction bore unex- 
 pected fruit. The boy became more of a reader 
 than worker, more of student than farmer. He
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 2 Q 
 
 loved more to wander through the scanty timber 
 in the intervale, to sing in the village choir, than 
 to work on the farm. His father complained 
 bitterly of what he called his idleness, but his 
 mother always took his part. At last, the differ- 
 ence between himself and father concerning his 
 labor on the farm had grown so serious that, with 
 the secret assistance of his mother, he had run 
 away from home, and had arrived, two years 
 since, alone and almost penniless in the city. 
 
 By good luck, his pleasant voice and readiness 
 to please all he met won him a place in a church 
 choir. The church had employed his time only 
 one day in the week; and the salary, by the aid 
 of the most rigid economy, kept him from want. 
 He might have spent the 1 remaining six days in 
 some other employment; but he chose rather to 
 earn less and learn more. He sang on the Sab- 
 bath, and spent the week-days in study. First, 
 he had tried, as best he could, to repair his 
 general education by reading; and at the Public 
 Library he found the right tools, books. Sec-
 
 ^Q ZEGELDA ROMAN '1 EF. 
 
 ondly, he studied music, and particularly church 
 music. He went as often as the chance offered 
 to week-day services, he heard all the organs 
 possible. He read and actually sang through 
 (for he often had no piano) all the books of 
 church music he could beg or borrow. His dream 
 was to discover or create something better, some- 
 thing more effective, more artistic, than the ordi- 
 nary church music he heard in the Protestant 
 churches of the city. He had even gone so far 
 as to map out an ideal church choir. 
 
 With all this, the actual outcome of his life 
 seemed to be only want and failure. He had 
 gained a footing in a good and well-paid choir ; 
 but he had made many changes, and once was 
 out of work for a whole month, which nearly 
 reduced him to beggary. With all this, he had 
 faith in himself, and felt sure he would one day 
 succeed. He had thought he might, perhaps, 
 teach music. Some persons made a good deal 
 of money by teaching; but a brief trial with one 
 poor pupil, who could not pay anything, con-
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA XI EP. 3 1 
 
 vinced him that he had no gift in that direction. 
 The position in the choir at St. Clement's had 
 supported him with difficulty ; and now it was 
 gone, and through no fault of his own. He 
 looked about the bare little room, with its faded 
 carpet and well-worn furniture, and wondered if 
 all his life was to be passed in such poor quarters. 
 Suddenly there seemed to be on the air a faint 
 hint of music. Then there was silence for a mo- 
 ment. Then it came again, louder and clearer, 
 a pure though childish soprano, fluttering from 
 note to note, like a bird trying its wings for a 
 bolder flight. Then it ran quickly up the scale 
 for two full octaves, and back again, in confident 
 ease and precision. It was the child in the next 
 room. 
 
 A moment after, there was a timid knock at 
 the door, and the child herself looked in. 
 
 Sebastian bid her enter ; and she came into the 
 room, and stood looking at him curiously. Then 
 she seemed to gain confidence, for she came 
 nearer and said,
 
 ^2 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 "Mother sent me to thank you, sir, for the 
 night's shelter. I don't know what we could have 
 done without your help." 
 
 " Oh, never mind ! You have paid me al- 
 ready." 
 
 " Paid you, sir ? " 
 
 "Yes, by singing 
 
 "Oh! you heard me in the next room. I al- 
 ways sing when I am happy. The birds do so. 
 I suppose they must be always happy." 
 
 " Have you been to breakfast ? " 
 
 " Yes : the woman downstairs called us early, 
 and gave us a good breakfast. I think all I need 
 now is a piano." 
 
 "The landlady has a piano downstairs. She 
 lets me use it at night." 
 
 "Night is a good way off." 
 
 "Yes; but in the day-time she uses the room 
 for her business." 
 
 " Oh ! " said the child, with a look of pleased 
 curiosity. " You play the piano ? Perhaps you 
 sing, also. I knew by your face you were Ro- 
 many."
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 33 
 
 "Romany! What's that?" 
 
 " Gypsy. I am Romany. My name is Zegelda." 
 
 "Oh, I'm not a gypsy at all. My name is 
 Sebastian Strove. I am an American. My mother 
 came from Massachusetts. My father was a Nor- 
 wegian." 
 
 "That makes no difference. You have the 
 Romany look in your eyes. You love music. 
 We all do, we Romany folk." 
 
 The child had come nearer to him, and stood 
 by his side, with evident pleasure. She was pale 
 and thin, and yet very beautiful. She seemed to 
 be quite young, and yet with her youth there was 
 just a hint of approaching maidenhood. Her eyes 
 were dark and luminous, and her hair long and 
 deep black. She laid one hand on his arm, and 
 . the touch seemed to thrill him. It was a cling- 
 ing touch, as if she looked to him for protection. 
 In all his life, he had never seen so much of 
 girlish beauty and confidence. 
 
 "I shall like you." 
 
 "I am glad to know it," he replied, and was
 
 *. ZEGELDA ROMAX1EF. 
 
 at once surprised that he should have said so. 
 -"Tell me more about yourself. Where did you 
 come from ? Who were your father and mother ? " 
 
 " My father was Romany. His name was Ro- 
 manief. He came to this country long since, and 
 settled in that Eastern State with the long 
 name. You said it just now." 
 
 " Massachusetts ? " 
 
 "Yes, it was Massachusetts., In a town they 
 called I forget it now. I shall remember it 
 presently. He taught music there. He had much 
 of your looks. He was an artist, a great singer, 
 though those cold and stupid Eastern people 
 knew it not. Then he travelled out West, and 
 married my mother; and they sing in concerts, 
 and teach music. I, too, sing in concerts, till we 
 grew very poor. At last, we were so po'or we 
 travel from town to town on foot. It was thus 
 he was killed on the railroad. Ah ! now I recall 
 the place where he once lived. It was Worcester, 
 Massachusetts."
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Be not afraid. Elijah. 
 
 THE musical life has always been the subject 
 of both praise and blame. To many persons, 
 the peculiar emotional temperament that marks 
 the musician seems admirable. For others, the 
 musical life appears strange, unreal, and un- 
 practical, a kind of emotional craze, ruinous to 
 business and quite incompatible with a good 
 bank account. 
 
 In Sebastian Strove, the farmer lad from Illi- 
 nois, appears one phase of the musical life. He 
 stands for the newer art-life of this country, en- 
 thusiastic, earnest, and yet intensely and really 
 practical. Willing to sacrifice ease and money to 
 attain his end, which is musical culture ; appar- 
 ently unthrifty and thoughtless of the future, and 
 yet looking beyond the near future to that far- 
 ther future, where he sees greater rewards in art.
 
 36 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 Zegelda is a type of the older musical tempera- 
 ment, very emotional, intensely egotistical, easily 
 moved, and careless of everything save music. 
 Having made each other's acquaintance, they 
 seemed to readily understand each other's hopes 
 and aspirations. They both wished to live the 
 musical life. To illustrate her character, we may 
 notice that neither she nor her mother knew 
 where they were to sleep that night, nor were 
 they positive as to their next meal, and yet she 
 said, 
 
 " I think all I now need is a piano." 
 Sebastian had heard the reference to Worces- 
 ter, his mother's former home, with surprise. 
 Could there be any possible connection between 
 this girl's father and his mother? The thought 
 passed through his mind, but he dismissed it at 
 once. For the girl there was, of course, nothing 
 remarkable in the fact. She knew nothing of 
 Sebastian's family history ; and yet this mere 
 mention of the town was the little cloud that, 
 like as a man's hand, had risen above their 
 horizon.
 
 ZEGELDA ROAfANIEF. 
 
 37 
 
 There was no piano in the house except in the 
 landlady's parlor ; and, as that room was used in 
 the day-time in her millinery business, it could 
 not be opened. 
 
 " If you will put on your things, we will go 
 down town, and see if we can find a piano." 
 
 " Then you must be rich. I'm glad of it, for 
 I really need a piano." 
 
 " Rich ! Oh, no ! Far from it. I'm quite poor. 
 I had a good place yesterday, but I lost it." 
 
 The girl looked at him with wide-open eyes, 
 and said seriously, 
 
 "I knew you were Romany. Never mind, your 
 luck will turn to-day. I will put on my things at 
 once." 
 
 With that she disappeared. What a singular 
 child, no, woman! She was a woman a child- 
 woman. In spite of his matter-of-fact training, 
 he smiled to himself. What if his luck should 
 change ! It had been running the wrong way a 
 long time. 
 
 " Pshaw ! There's no such thing as luck."
 
 *g ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 Yet luck was at the door, for just then the 
 girl returned. Her well-worn cloak and hat 
 seemed transformed, and she really looked quite 
 presentable. She came in with a light, half-danc- 
 ing step, and with shining eyes and a bright 
 smile. 
 
 "This house is lucky. The woman down-stairs 
 gave my mother seventy-five cents to work for 
 her to-day, making bows for hats. We shall now 
 have a good dinner. Perhaps you will dine with 
 us. She also gave me a piece of ribbon, and I 
 pinned it into my hat. Is it not pretty ? " 
 
 She stood looking at him, and all the while 
 turning her head this way and that in -a bird-like 
 fashion, and softly singing to her self. What a 
 wonderful voice she had ! It seemed to Sebas- 
 tian to thrill him, just as the touch of her hand 
 on his arm had done. 
 
 His silence seemed to trouble her, and she 
 stopped singing and said gravely, 
 
 " Are you offended, sir ? Perhaps it was wrong 
 for mother to ask for work."
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 39 
 
 "No, I'm not offended. I am glad she has 
 found something to do. I was thinking of your 
 voice." 
 
 "I have a good voice, and I mean to make a 
 great singer. I have sung in concerts often." 
 
 This she said with straightforward simplicity, 
 as if it was the most natural thing in the world. 
 
 " Did you ever sing in church ? " 
 
 "No. I should not wish to. It's so dark in 
 churches, and the people they look so un- 
 happy." 
 
 The young man laughed at this commentary, 
 and said simply, 
 
 " I fear you do not know much about it 
 Come, let us go and find a piano." 
 
 It is doubtful if the young man knew exactly 
 what he intended to do. He had a vague idea 
 that he might hire a piano for the girl. His in- 
 come was just nothing a day. To hire even the 
 cheapest piano would necessitate the payment of 
 cartage, if not advance payment of the rent; and 
 his total assets were barely sufficient to support
 
 4O ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 him a month. Of course, a few moments' reflec- 
 tion showed him he could not hire a piano. Be- 
 sides, where could it be sent? The child had no 
 roof over her head, much less room for a piano. 
 With all this, he steadily kept in view the fact 
 that the girl had something of the art-life in her, 
 and that he would help her as far as it lay in 
 his power. 
 
 Zegelda walked on beside him through the 
 streets, in happy confidence. What he intended 
 to do she did not know, but she felt confident 
 that, in some way, he would find a piano for 
 her. Presently they entered one of the principal 
 avenues of the city, and came to an elegant 
 establishment for the sale of pianos. Through 
 the plate glass windows could be seen a number 
 of costly upright pianos. 
 
 " Oh, how beautiful ! If I had a piano like 
 one of those, I should care for nothing else in 
 the world." 
 
 " Let us go in," said Sebastian. " I wish to 
 see some of the people here. I will not keep 
 you waiting long."
 
 7.RGELDA ROMANIEF. ,j 
 
 The girl entered the warerooms timidly, and 
 advanced towards a piano in an ebonized case, 
 rich with carvings of birds and flowers. She 
 paused in silent admiration before it, forgetful of 
 everything about her. She had never seen any- 
 thing so splendid, and yet it seemed quite 
 proper. Anything that had to do with music 
 should be beautiful. She walked about it, looked 
 at it from every side, and even touched the keys 
 with one hand in a soft, caressing manner. The 
 piano seemed to whisper as if it dreamed. The 
 sound appeared to nave no tangible quality, but 
 to be only a shadow of music, an echo of har- 
 mony, as if the dumb instrument recognized its 
 mistress. 
 
 When Sebastian entered the store, he left 
 Zegelda by the door, intending, himself to go to 
 the counting-room at the rear of the place, and 
 ask for the loan of one of the rooms provided 
 by the firm for the use of musical people. 
 There were several rooms in the upper part of 
 the building, each warmed and provided with a
 
 42 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 piano ; and it was Sebastian's intention to obtain 
 one of these rooms, and to take the girl there 
 and try her voice, and see if by its use anything 
 could be done for her support. This intention, 
 while it may serve to show his thoughtful and 
 practical character, he did not carry out. 
 
 In passing through the long wareroom, he 
 came upon a party of four gentlemen earnestly 
 talking together. One of them he remembered as 
 an agent for professional singers. This person, 
 Mr. Sill by name, had an office in the city, where 
 he kept a list of singers, choirs, and concert 
 companies ; and it was his self-elected mission in 
 the musical world to act as a go-between among 
 these parties. He found singers for choirs and 
 business for concert troops, and even dabbled in 
 concerts himself, by which speculative ventures 
 he generally managed to burn everybody's fingers 
 but his own. Sebastian, on his first arrival in the 
 city, had been led by an advertisement to apply 
 to him, and had even paid . him ten dollars for 
 assistance in finding a place in some choir, which
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. j* 
 
 assistance, as -was his custom, the said Sill had 
 never rendered. Personally, the creature was short 
 and fat, with a partially bald head, and with small 
 gray eyes and a stubby red moustache. His whole 
 make-up was repulsive and disagreeable, and Se- 
 bastian had intended to pass him by without no- 
 tice ; but the man saw him, and came hastily 
 toward him, and said in a whisper, 
 
 "Morning, sir. Would you like a place at St. 
 Clement's ? " 
 
 "Thank you, I left there only yesterday." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I forgot. I think I got you the 
 place at first. Well, they made a clean sweep 
 of it ; and now they have formed a new choir, all 
 but the tenor. If you will give me ten per cent, 
 of the salary for the first three months, I'll get 
 you the place." 
 
 "They turned me out with the rest. It is use- 
 less to think they would take me back." 
 
 "Yes, they will, if I say so. They know me. 
 I'll answer for you. It will be only ten per cent." 
 
 " I've paid you ten dollars already, and you 
 never brought me a single opening."
 
 44 
 
 ZE GELD A R OMA NIEF. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I forgot ! I will call that on account. 
 I was thinking I did something for you." 
 
 With that, he moved away toward the group of 
 gentlemen. After a brief consultation, the busi- 
 ness was settled. Sebastian explained that he 
 was not in any way to blame for the music of the 
 day before. A memoranda of agreement was 
 drawn up, and it really seemed as if, as the girl 
 had said, his luck had turned. Just as Sebastian 
 was about to sign the paper, there seemed to be 
 on the air a pure and beautiful note, sustained 
 by almost unheard harmony from a piano. One 
 of the elder gentlemen looked over his glasses 
 toward the door in surprise. Mr. Sill was for 
 a moment startled, but pretended indifference. 
 Immediately after the business was settled, the 
 gentleman who had listened to the voice from the 
 piano moved toward the door. Sebastian looked 
 about, and noticed that other people seemed to 
 have been listening; and he was in momentary 
 alarm lest Zegelda would sing again, and attract 
 farther attention to herself. Not that he was
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN1EF. 
 
 45 
 
 ashamed to have brought her there, but he felt 
 instinctively that she was impulsive and thought- 
 less, and that she might commit some breach of 
 propriety in this rather severe and elegant place. 
 He bid the gentlemen good-morning, and moved 
 toward the door, only to find that the agent was 
 following him. 
 
 " You ought to make it twenty per cent. ; for 
 the place is a good one, and you are sure to 
 keep it." 
 
 " You said your terms were ten per cent. I 
 will give you that,, less the ten dollars, at the 
 end of the first quarter." 
 
 "You couldn't make a little*advance now? I'm 
 very short to-day." 
 
 The fact that the man had a well-filled purse 
 made no difference. It was his instinct to plun- 
 der wherever he thought he could. 
 
 " No, sir, I have no money to-day. You must 
 wait till I earn something." 
 
 By this time, they had advanced to the front 
 of the wareroom. Mr. Sill made a note in his
 
 4 6 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 memoranda, and passed out into the street with- 
 out noticing Zegelda, who stood by the piano. 
 She drew near to Sebastian, and he observed 
 that she was pale and trembling with excite- 
 ment. Her black eyes seemed to blaze with 
 passionate anger after the retreating form of the 
 agent on the walk outside. 
 " Do you know him ? " 
 
 " Why, yes. It is Mr. Sill, the musical agent." 
 " I know him. He is not always called Sill. 
 He goes by other names at times. I hate 
 him." 
 
 " Hate him ! Why, what has he done to you ? 
 Where did you ever meet him ? " 
 
 "I hate him it is enough I hate him." 
 The girl's passionate outbreak against the mu- 
 sical agent was an unpleasant surprise to Sebas- 
 tian. It was a new revelation of her character; 
 and he moved toward the street door without 
 making any comment on her invective, and said 
 quietly that they must go. Without a word, she 
 followed him into the street, and walked on by
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. A ~ 
 
 47 
 
 his side in silence. What could he do with 
 the girl ? He could not ask for the use of a 
 room and piano after such an episode in the 
 warerooms. He began to feel that perhaps he 
 had made a mistake. Why 'should he trouble 
 himself about this strange girl ? Perhaps, after 
 all, she was not worthy any special pains. His 
 financial affairs were certainly improved, he was 
 better able to help her, and yet he felt inclined 
 to shake her off, and let her take care of her- 
 self as best she might. 
 
 Just then he felt her arm steal into his, and 
 rest there confidingly. He turned to look at her, 
 and saw a tear trembling on her cheek. 
 
 " O sir, you are angry with me ! I am very 
 sorry." 
 
 " No : I am net angry, only sorry you should 
 have spoken so rudely of Mr. Sill in the ware- 
 rooms/' 
 
 " His name is not Sill. He is a thief. He 
 robbed my father, and I hate him. I shall tell 
 you about him some time not now."
 
 4 8 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 He made no reply to this, and they walked 
 on for some moments in silence. She still kept 
 his arm, and seemed to cling to him for protec- 
 tion. At first, he was annoyed. Had she been 
 a girl near his own age, he would have dropped 
 her arm and resented the familiarity. She was 
 only a child, and he could not resist the im- 
 pulse to draw her arm closer within his own. 
 " You will forgive me, sir, will you not ? " 
 " Why, certainly. It's of no consequence now." 
 " Oh, I am very glad ! " she said gayly. " And 
 now, if you please, I think I should have a 
 piano. I will be very sweet and good, if you 
 will get one." 
 
 The abrupt change in her manner, from tear- 
 ful entreaty to merry banter, was another reve- 
 lation. Could it be she was utterly shallow and 
 thoughtless, or was there more below this shift- 
 ing surface ? 
 
 " I really ough't not to miss my practice hour." 
 
 " You are right : you must practise every day. 
 
 So must I, for it is the only road to success
 
 Z EG ELD A ROMANIEF. ,g 
 
 in music. I meant to have asked for the use 
 of a piano at the warerooms ; but I met some 
 gentlemen who made me an offer to sing in 
 church, and the business put the piano quite out 
 of my mind." 
 
 " Do you get much money for singing in 
 church ? " 
 
 "The salary is very good." 
 
 " I told you good luck would come to-day." 
 
 " I hope so. My luck has been against me 
 so far." 
 
 " Never mind, sir. Ft will change after this. 
 I feel sure of it." 
 
 There must be something of the gypsy in the 
 girl. Her mobile face, constantly varying in ex- 
 pression ; her gayety and lightness of manner ; 
 her ready tears, almost dropping amid her laughter, 
 puzzled and yet charmed him. It was a new 
 and delicious sensation to have her by his side. 
 The busy street and gay shops appeared to 
 excite her, and she talked rapidly and in happy 
 ease, as if she had known him all her life, and
 
 C0 ZEGELDA ROMAN1EF. 
 
 as if the problem of obtaining the next meal 
 and that night's lodging had no existence. He 
 explained to her that he had intended to borrow 
 the use of a piano and try her voice, but that 
 the business had prevented, and that after din- 
 ner he would see what could be done about it. 
 
 " Yes : I suppose I must have a dinner. I 
 hope the woman who gave mother the work will 
 pay her something by noon ; for we haven't a cent 
 in the world." 
 
 "You shall dine with me," said Sebastian, in 
 a sudden burst of generosity. " Here's a good 
 restaurant. Let us go in." 
 
 "Thank you, sir: you are very kind. We might 
 have some oysters and half a chicken and some 
 cream." 
 
 The proposal nearly took his breath away. 
 Such a bill of fare would cost more than ten 
 meals at home. Yet he led her into the restau- 
 rant and took seats, and actually began to write 
 an order for oysters, spring chicken, and ice- 
 cream, when she laid her hand, on his arm, and 
 said gravely,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. rj 
 
 "Perhaps the oysters and chicken might not 
 agree with me. Let us order a steak. It will 
 be enough for two." 
 
 Was she child or woman, gypsy sprite or sober 
 New England maiden with more sense than com- 
 mon ? The steak was ample for them both ; and 
 she said she really did not care for the cream, 
 so the order was not given. For the young man, 
 brought up in the hard life of a Western farm, 
 unfamiliar with the art temperament, and still 
 less familiar with young feminine society, the lit- 
 tle dinner was a royal feast, the most delight- 
 ful meal he had ever eaten. 
 
 He was as good as his word, and that after- 
 noon took her to another piano warehouse, where 
 he obtained the use of a piano and room for 
 an hour. Zegelda sang for him for some time, 
 while he listened in silence. She asked what 
 he thought of her voice, but he put her off with 
 vague compliments, that seemed to satisfy her~ 
 completely. Then they went home, Sebastian 
 talking but little and letting her chatter on
 
 C 2 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 rather idly. He had made a discovery, perhaps 
 two. He must think about it. 
 
 Luck really seemed to have come to the 
 house. Zegelda's mother had so far satisfied 
 the milliner that she had given her a week's 
 work, and had offered her and the child a home 
 in her house, and had even made a small cash 
 payment in advance. The practising question 
 was also arranged by allowing Zegelda the use 
 of the piano in the night ; and, by sitting up 
 late and rising late in the morning, five hours' 
 practice could be secured without injury- to her 
 health. 
 
 On the following Saturday, Sebastian went to 
 the rehearsal at St. Clement's, and so far pleased 
 the new organist and director that they wel- 
 comed him as a valuable addition to the choir. 
 At ten o'clock, Sunday morning, while in his 
 room, preparing to go to the church, there came 
 a knock at his door; and, thinking it might be 
 the landlady, he bid her come in. 
 
 It was a young woman, neatly, almost hand-
 
 ZEGEL DA ROMA NIEF. 
 
 53 
 
 somely, dressed in some dark stuff that was won- 
 derfully becoming. He looked at her in sur- 
 prise for a moment ; and then her grave and 
 handsome face broke into smiles, and with a 
 laugh she bowed, and said, 
 
 "Miss Romanief at your service, -sir. And 
 please, sir, may I go to church with you ? I 
 never went to church in my life." 
 
 " Never went to church, Zegelda ? " 
 
 " Well, yes, I've looked in once or twice with 
 mother. Father did not wish me to go to 
 church. It seemed so dark and sad, and the 
 people looked very unhappy. Perhaps it would 
 be different, if I went with you. " 
 
 Then she came nearer, and said with childlike 
 simplicity, 
 
 "The landlady gave me the material, it's 
 one of her old dresses, and I. made it up my- 
 self. Isn't it very pretty ? Mother made the bat 
 for me." 
 
 " They are both very pretty, but the dress 
 makes you look like a woman."
 
 54 
 
 Z EG ELD A ROMANIEF. 
 
 " I am a woman," she said gravely, as if it 
 was an important fact. Then she changed her 
 manner in an instant, and said : " You are not 
 polite. You should say, ' Mr. Sebastian Strove 
 will be greatly pleased with Miss Romanief's 
 company at church.' " 
 
 " I will. I shall be ready in five minutes, and 
 call for you." 
 
 " Miss Romanief presents her compliments to 
 Mr. Strove, and will accept his kind invitation 
 with pleasure." Then, with a rippling laugh, she 
 swept out of the room, and in a moment a glori- 
 ous voice made the .cheap and dingy lodging- 
 house re-echo with bravura cadenzas. 
 
 The young man pulled on his well-worn 
 gloves, and muttered to himself that things were 
 getting dangerous. She was not a child at all ; 
 or, if a child, she was just stepping into a 
 beautiful maidenhood before his eyes. The 
 wan, pinched face of the girl of a week ago 
 seemed to belong to some long-distant past. This 
 was another Zegelda, a young woman of almost
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 55 
 
 boundless talent, that seemed to hint at undis- 
 covered possibilities- in the future. What had he 
 to do with such a being ? 
 
 She walked gravely by his side on the way to 
 church, among a throng of fashionable people, 
 as self-possessed, as ladylike, and more beautiful 
 than any of them. People turned to look after 
 the tall, lank youth, in well-worn suit, and the 
 beauty beside him. He was aware of the ad- 
 miration the passers bestowed upon her. Had 
 he heard their remarks about her and about him- 
 self, he might have wondered greatly. At first, 
 he was jealous of the admiration she evidently 
 won. Yet she was only his child-ward, a poor 
 girl who had needed and claimed his help, 
 merely a beggar waif from the street. 
 
 As they drew near the church, Zegelda glanced 
 up at the Gothic steeple, rich in stone foliage, 
 that seemed to grow from bud to flower, till it 
 blossomed into a cross at the top. 
 
 " Why do churches have steeples ? " 
 
 
 The question, coming from such a child,
 
 C5 ZEGELDA ROMANIES. 
 
 startled him, and for a moment he was at a loss 
 for an answer. 
 
 " I really don't know, unless it be to lead the 
 people's thoughts to heaven." 
 
 " I think it must be that ; for it is like poetry. 
 It is odd that men should think to put a song 
 into stone." 
 
 There was a great multitude about the doors 
 of the church, and they found some difficulty in 
 entering the Gothic porch. They pressed through 
 the throng, and in a moment stood within the 
 church, in the dim light, the soft, warm air, and 
 with the lofty roof spread out in dusky arches 
 over their heads. 
 
 " How beautiful ! " 
 
 " Hush ! Do not speak so loud ! " said Sebas- 
 tian, with just a shade of annoyance. Some of 
 the people turned to see who thus spoke out in 
 admiration, and perhaps they lingered a moment 
 after to look at the child's strange beauty. Se- 
 bastian spoke to an usher near by. 
 
 " Will you please find a seat for this young 
 lady ? I must go upstairs myself."
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 57 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but not now. The regular attend- 
 ants must be provided with seats first. Let the 
 lady wait a moment." 
 
 " Will you please wait here, Zegelda, till the 
 usher finds you a seat ? I must go upstairs, and 
 after church I'll meet you at the door." 
 
 " No, no ! I want to go with you. Take me 
 with you to the stage I mean the place where 
 you sing." 
 
 Sebastian bit his lip with vexation. She was 
 a perfect child. How could he make her under- 
 stand that she could not sit in the choir ? He 
 led her back into the vestibule, not knowing 
 what to do. 
 
 " I am musical. Why should I not sit with 
 the singers ? " 
 
 " I am afraid they will not permit it." 
 
 " Then I must go home. I want to sit with 
 you. I will be very good." 
 
 She said this in a childlike, beseeching manner, 
 that was not to be resisted. Just then the organ 
 began, and he knew it was time for him to take
 
 eg ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 his place in the choir. He led her upstairs, and 
 at the entrance of the organ-loft he met the gen- 
 tleman who sang bass in the choir, and who was 
 also the new director of the music. 
 
 " May I take this young lady into the choir 
 with me ? She is a stranger here, and does not 
 wish to sit alone." 
 
 " Oh, certainly. Bring her in. Your sister, I 
 presume." 
 
 " Oh, no ! Only a friend." 
 
 " Indeed ! She's the image of you, except in 
 color. You would pass for brother and sister 
 anywhere." 
 
 The speech was rather startling ; but, in the 
 confusion of entering the choir and finding a 
 seat for Zegelda, who seemed to be quite be- 
 wildered by the surroundings, it passed without 
 notice. The place was much like other organ- 
 lofts, a narrow gallery at the end of the church, 
 with the organ behind and a low railing, with 
 heavy crimson curtains, in front. There were 
 three people there, two ladies, and, behind them,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 59 
 
 at the desk, the organist. Zegelda was given a 
 seat next Sebastian's, at the left of the choir. 
 There were also a number of unoccupied seats 
 behind her. 
 
 For this child, all her life roughly knocked 
 about the world, accustomed to want, to per- 
 petual change and travel, familiar only with the 
 life of a travelling show-man, and having a 
 sensitive and artistic temperament, not wholly 
 blunted by poverty, the place, and, above all, 
 the music from the organ, was a revelation, an 
 unspeakable delight and wonder. Her eyes wan- 
 dered from the organ to the pointed roof, the 
 stained windows glowing with living color in 
 the bright sunlight, the peaceful angels looking 
 calmly down from the bases of the springing 
 arches, the vast throng of people below and 
 around her. Everything was new and strange ; 
 and she thought the people must love music to 
 put it in such a beautiful house. Oh, if she 
 could sing in such a place as this, and with 
 Sebastian ! Already her thoughts seemed to turn 
 to. him in connection with her life and music.
 
 gO ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 At the end of the voluntary, the choir stood up 
 to sing. Zegelda's seat was a little in advance of 
 the others ; and, when Sebastian stood up with 
 the others, he was directly by her side, as she 
 sat hidden behind the crimson curtains. 
 
 As for the young man, he .knew that this was 
 a kind of trial for him. If he pleased the peo- 
 ple, all would be well. He must do his best. 
 He laid the music-book on the rack before him, 
 and stood up with the others, with his left hand 
 hanging by his side. The anthem began, and 
 went on easily ; for it was not difficult. The 
 difficulties were ahead, in the tenor solo, evi- 
 dently selected to try his voice and style. Sud- 
 denly, he felt a small hand placed in his. He 
 glanced down, to see Zegelda looking up at him 
 with beaming eyes, and holding his hand in hers. 
 It was an encouragement. He must do his best 
 for her sake. 
 
 Now comes the solo. He took it up con- 
 fidently. Perhaps something of the child's won- 
 derful spirit came to him through her clinging
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. gj 
 
 fingers. He felt he was doing well. There was 
 a profound hush over all the people, as if they 
 had caught the new voice. 
 
 " The Lord is in his holy temple" 
 
 Suddenly, the clasping fingers tightened on his ; 
 and she pressed close to his side, as if for pro- 
 tection. The hand-clasp seemed to be full of 
 passionate appeal for aid and comfort. He 
 glanced down at her face. It was white with 
 alarm and terror. What had happened ? Was 
 she ill ? Tears stood in her eyes, that seemed 
 frozen as if in agony. He glanced back, and 
 there, on the steps leading down into the choir, 
 sat squatting like a toad the agent, Sill. 
 
 The voice faltered for an instant. Everything 
 was lost. He would break down. Suddenly there 
 was a meaning pressure on his hand. The pale 
 face looking up at him had a wan and haggard 
 smile. He was safe. It was her spirit in the 
 music. 
 
 " FOR THE LORD is IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE. LET ALL 
 
 THE EARTH KEEP SILENCE."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Lift thine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh help. ELIJAH. 
 
 THE young man finished his work, and sat 
 down. It had been performed without apparent 
 accident, yet he felt sure it was a failure. He 
 had not produced the effect on the people he 
 had intended. The time and place forbidding 
 any sign or demonstration of any kind, the peo- 
 ple assumed a decorous calm, and gave their at- 
 tention to the sermon that followed the music. 
 For all that, their decision had been reached : 
 the young man was not wanted in that church. 
 Conscious in their own virtue, and knowing t noth- 
 ing of the scene that had been enacted in the 
 choir, they decided that the new voice did not 
 suit, and that was an end of the matter. On 
 the morrow, or perhaps after church, the com-
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. g-> 
 
 mittee who had the matter in charge would in- 
 form the singer that his services were no longer 
 needed. The fact that he had already sung in the 
 choir before, they seemed to forget, and, certainly, 
 it made no difference in their opinion concerning 
 him. 
 
 As he sat down, Sebastian glanced round to 
 see if the agent was still there, and felt relieved 
 to find he had disappeared. The mystery of 
 the man's movement, the child's uncontrollable 
 terror in his presence, and the dark hints she 
 had thrown out concerning her past relations 
 with him, combined to make the young man ap- 
 prehensive both for himself and for Zegelda. 
 Her silent appeal to him while he was singing 
 had almost been the cause of a total break-down 
 in the music. As it was, he had with difficulty 
 saved himself ; and any defects that had ap- 
 peared in his performance he attributed to her 
 interruption. He felt sure he * had not done his 
 best, and was half-inclined to blame her for it. 
 
 Then the end came, and the people prepared
 
 6 4 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEP. 
 
 to go home. The organist was busy over his 
 instrument, and said not a word. The other 
 members *of the choir talked in whispers together, 
 and suffered their co-laborer to depart without 
 a word or sign of recognition. 
 
 It would seem as if the practice of so beau- 
 tiful an art as music would make people sweeter, 
 more charitable, and better. It does not always, 
 for the reason that many who think they love 
 it really only admire it, and use it as a means to 
 gratify their vanity. They use the fine language 
 of the emotions as a mask. Their music seems 
 the expression of beautiful thoughts, whereas their 
 own hearts are full of envy and all uncharitable- 
 ness. These people had recognized that the new 
 voice was one of unusual excellence, and yet 
 they were secretly glad he had failed. At the 
 porch the committee on music met the soprano 
 singer and asked her how she liked the tenor. 
 
 "Well, there are tenors and tenors. Mr. 
 Sebastian is one of the tenors." 
 
 She said this in a pronounced and pert man- 
 ner, the committee thought infinitely becoming.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. e 
 
 " Good quality ? . Oh, yes, good enough ; but 
 no method, sir, no method, absolutely no 
 method. Quite wanting in style, I may say 
 he has no style, no style whatever. He will never 
 do in the world. Your people want more style, 
 more vigor, more dash, as the French say, he 
 should be more spiritulle" 
 
 The young lady's rather astounding French 
 made a deep impression ; and the committee were 
 on the point of saying that the new tenor should 
 be dismissed at once, and a singer of more dash 
 and spirit should be 'engaged in his place, when 
 an elderly person in black silk stepped up and 
 said quietly, 
 
 " If the young man who sang in the choir to- 
 day is not retained, I shall withdraw my sub- 
 scription to the church and sell my pew. He 
 was the only member of the old choir who was 
 of any use, and he must remain v.ith us." 
 
 The soprano turned to see who spoke, and 
 found Miss Tabatha Brown, a maiden lady of 
 mature years, standing before the committee.
 
 56 ZEGELDA KOMANIEF. 
 
 Miss Tabatha Brown was a person to be feared in 
 the church. She was a lady of enormous wealth, 
 and rather uncertain temper. It was she who 
 had contributed most largely to the building of 
 the church. She had put in the organ at her own 
 expense and did more than her share toward 
 paying the choir. With all this, she seldom or 
 never interfered in any way with the control of 
 the church affairs. Her remark had therefore ail 
 the more weight. 
 
 The soprano hastened to say that perhaps, on 
 farther trial, the tenor would prove more satisfac- 
 tory. 
 
 " As you say, Miss," continued Miss Brown, in 
 a rather acidulated manner, " the people want a 
 more spiritulle singer, and in the young man they 
 had it to perfection. Your French was quite cor- 
 rect, Miss." 
 
 There was a mischievous twinkle in the old 
 lady's eye, as she said this ; and one of the 
 committee men looked into his hat to keep from 
 laughing. Miss Brown brought him to a sense 
 of his duty by saying sharply,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 6 7 
 
 " I trust, sir, you will consider my wishes. 
 This young man is a total stranger to me, but 
 I heard him sing, and that's sufficient. I know 
 enough about music to tell a good voice, when 
 I hear it. He must be retained in the choir." 
 
 " Then I shall at once resign," said the so- 
 prano. 
 
 "Very well, my dear," said Miss Brown, with 
 a smile. " You know your own interests best, I 
 presume." 
 
 " Every thing shall be as you wish, Miss Brown," 
 said one of the committee. " It would be rather 
 cruel to dismiss the young man. Some of the 
 .younger people in the congregation have not 
 liked him, but I dare say they are hasty in their 
 judgment." 
 
 "We should never judge of a fellow-being on 
 one trial. It ill becomes us, while Providence 
 gives a lifetime for trial. I have bought the 
 two pews on each side of the choir; and it is 
 my intention to tear them down and enlarge the 
 choir, and make room for a harp, and perhaps
 
 fift ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 a small orchestra with a chorus. There ! " she 
 added, with a little laugh, " I have let the cat 
 out of the bag. I didn't mean to tell my plans 
 just yet. However, it will do no harm." 
 
 " I fear, Miss Brown, such a scheme will hardly 
 meet the approval "of the church. It will be too 
 expensive." 
 
 " Nobody asked the church to bear the ex- 
 pense. I will pay for it myself. I built half 
 the church and put in the organ, and pay the 
 largest pew-tax ; and I mean to have my way. 
 This young person, whoever he is, must be kept 
 in the choir ; and, if I continue to like him, I 
 shall make him director of the music." 
 
 Just here a man in livery appeared at the door, 
 and touched his hat to Miss Brown. 
 
 " I'm all ready, John. I go at once." With 
 that, she made a sweeping bow to the bewil- 
 dered choir and committee, and swept out of the 
 church in a manner at once elegant and impres- 
 sive. 
 
 They walked home together in gloomy silence,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. fa 
 
 Sebastian absorbed in contemplating the miser- 
 able end of another effort to get a foothold in the 
 city, Zegelda clearly seeing that trouble of some 
 kind had come, and that in some way she was 
 concerned in it. He had certainly failed. The 
 very people who had welcomed him to the choir, 
 the night before, hardly spoke to him now. The 
 solo had been a dead failure, and Zegelda was 
 to blame for the whole thing. If she had not 
 been there, all would have been well. If she 
 had not interrupted him just then, and thrown 
 him off his balance, nothing serious would have 
 happened. This was the second time she had 
 placed him in an unfortunate position. Why 
 should he trouble himself any more about her ? 
 Why not let her go and find her own way in 
 the world ? 
 
 Just as they" reached the house, she said 
 quietly that she was much obliged to him for 
 taking her to church, and that she would like 
 very much to go again some other Sunday. 
 
 " I fear I can never take you, Zegelda."
 
 Q ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 " Why not ? Did I do anything wrong ? " 
 
 " Well, no, not intentionally ; but I fear I have 
 lost my place in the choir. They did not like 
 my singing, and I presume to-night they wiiS tell 
 me I neefl not come again. If you had stayed 
 downstairs, as I wished, it might not have hap- 
 pened." 
 
 If he had struck her, he could not have hurt 
 her more. 
 
 " Oh, you think I did it ! You think I put 
 you out. Oh, it is terrible ! You lost the 
 place, and it's all my fault." 
 
 They had reached the house, and with a sob 
 she ran up the steps, as if to escape from him. 
 As she could not open the door till he came up 
 with the key, she was obliged to wait for him, and 
 stood sobbing and trembling on the upper step. 
 
 " It is all my living," he said rather savagely, 
 " and now I am thrown out of work again. I 
 shall have to give up, after all, and go back to 
 the farm." 
 
 " Oh, don't say that ! Don't say that ! I can
 
 ZEGELDA RO-VfANlEF. j 
 
 sing. I will sing at concerts and get much 
 money, and you shall have it all. No one was 
 ever ' good or kind to me before, and yet I 
 spoiled your business. I am very, very sorry." 
 
 " Well," said the young man, relenting some- 
 what, and opening the door for her to enter, 
 " say no more about it. The harm is done : it 
 is useless to cry over it now. Your mother can, 
 no doubt, find something to do, and next week 
 I'll go back to the farm. Music seerns to be a 
 failure with me. I have mistaken fancy for 
 talent. It's the old story of the inflated frog. 
 I've been a fool to care for music, and I'll give 
 it all up and go home." 
 
 If there is anything that may be confidently 
 looked for, it is the unexpected. Sebastian Strove 
 returned to the church that evening alone. He 
 did not intend to take Zegelda with him ; and, 
 in fact, he saw nothing of her after they parted 
 on the door-step at noon, as she remained in her 
 room with her mother. From the events of the 
 morning, he imagined that his fellow-laborers in
 
 2 ZEGELDA ROMAN1EF. 
 
 the choir might receive him rather coldly, and it 
 was best to go alone. His reception was really 
 almost insulting. Not one in the choir paid the 
 slightest attention to him, beyond what was 
 called for by the business of the evening. One 
 of the men pointed out the page in the music- 
 book, and this was all. The two women ignored 
 him completely. 
 
 These things are not pleasant to record. It 
 has been thought that music is refining and ele- 
 vating. This is not so. Music is a mode of ex- 
 pression. While it may express refinement, relig- 
 ion, fine sentiments, and lofty aspirations, it is 
 not any of these, but merely an aid to their expres- 
 sion. It may also serve things that are rude and 
 altogether vulgar. These people used this wonder- 
 ful mode of expression, and yet they were them- 
 selves unlovely and poor in the spirit of good 
 manners. Why such people are found in church 
 choirs can only be explained by the false estimate 
 the church-going public, in so many instances, 
 places upon its music. The demand is for show
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF, 
 
 73 
 
 and display, for mere effect and high coloring, 
 and, in the competition to get these, little has 
 been thought of the people themselves. The de- 
 mand has been for voices and not singers, per- 
 formers instead of musicians. The people have 
 misunderstood music, and have fancied that, be- 
 cause it may be the expression of religion and 
 elevated thought, it is in itself religious and ele- 
 vated. 
 
 I 
 
 Events move quickly among the people we have 
 to do with, and we may soon see this whole 
 matter of choir life and choir music in another 
 and a fairer light. The evening service was got 
 through in some half-hearted fashion ; and the 
 young man felt sure that this was his last ap- 
 pearance at that church. The fact that he 
 had signed an agreement to sing in the church 
 would probably be of no avail. If he had failed, 
 the church committee would no doubt consider 
 themselves at liberty to break the contract. Such 
 things had been done, he had heard. The ser- 
 vice was over and the people going out, and he
 
 74 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAXIEP. 
 
 was on the point of going, when he thought that, 
 at least, he would be polite to them, however 
 rudely they might treat him ; and he bowed to 
 them all, and said good-night. The organist 
 bowed and smiled, and said something that was 
 lost in the /roar of his organ as he " played 
 the people out." The others neither by look nor 
 word recognized him in any way. It was no mat- 
 ter. It was all of a piece with his life in the 
 city, an unbroken stream of 'ill luck, disappoint- 
 ment, and disaster. 
 
 He did not even resent their rudeness. He 
 only wondered at it in a vague way, as if it were 
 something quite apart from his life. He had 
 done his duty; and, had not Zegelda interrupted 
 him in the solo, all would have been well. Of 
 course, he could never sing there again ; and, 
 not without a sigh of regret at the lost income 
 and opportunity, he turned into the street toward 
 his wretched lodgings, his poverty and despair. 
 
 " It's a pretty dream, but it's all over. I know 
 the worst, and I know my duty. I'll go home
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA.V/EF. j~ 
 
 to my mother, and tell her I have failed. I'll 
 give up music, and go back to" 
 
 " If you please, sir, will you step this way ? " 
 He looked up to see who spoke, and found 
 it was a man in livery. 
 
 "Step to the carriage door a moment, sir. 
 Miss Brown wishes to see you." 
 
 Who Miss Brown might be, or what any young 
 lady in a carriage might want of him, he could 
 not imagine. The carriage stood by a street 
 lamp in front of the church, and by the aid of 
 the light he saw an elderly lady in black, look- 
 ing out and holding the door partly open, as if 
 expecting some one. There were many people on 
 the walk, and in the confusion he did not under- 
 stand what it all meant. 
 
 " There must be some mistake, marm " 
 " No mistake at all, sir," said the lady, rather 
 sharply. " I have been waiting for you to come 
 out. I wish to see you. Will you please get in 
 the carriage ? I will take you to my house, and 
 explain what I want."
 
 7 6 
 
 Z EG EL DA ROMANIEF. 
 
 The footman opened the door wide, and the 
 lady retreated into the carriage, as if to make 
 room for him to enter. 
 
 " It's all right, sir," said the man, quietly. 
 " She wants to see you on a matter of business. 
 Step right in, sir." 
 
 The man said this with an air of respect, as if 
 receiving a guest ; and Sebastian, not knowing 
 how to refuse, entered the carriage. 
 
 Just then the two ladies of the choir came 
 down the church steps. 
 
 " I am completely petrified ! " exclaimed the 
 soprano. " Miss Brown has taken the new tenor 
 off in her carriage." 
 
 The door was closed, and in a second they 
 were rolling swiftly through the streets toward the 
 fashionable end of the city. 
 
 " You will excuse me, sir," said the lady, " for 
 taking you off so unceremoniously. My name is 
 Miss Tabatha Brown. You shall know more of 
 me by and by. All I have to say now is that I 
 have often heard you sing in our church ; and I
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA XI EF. 
 
 77 
 
 have asked you to come to my house, because 
 I may have a favor to ask of you. What is your 
 name, sir ? " 
 
 " Strove, Sebastian Strove. I am sure, marm, 
 I shall be glad to be of service." 
 
 " Strove ! That's Norwegian. You came from 
 the country, I presume ? " 
 
 " Yes : from Illinois. I have only been in the 
 city about two years." 
 
 " So much the better. You have not had time 
 to be spoiled." 
 
 Certainly, the entire adventure was most pe- 
 culiar. The young man hardly knew what to 
 make of it or of his hostess. She asked him a 
 number of questions about his life and musical 
 studies, and he answered simply and directly, 
 which seemed to win her confidence ; for she 
 said, 
 
 " I think we shall get on very well together." 
 
 Just then the carriage stopped ; and the man 
 opened the door, and Miss Brown said to him, 
 
 " Take Mr. Strove to the music-room, John."
 
 7 g ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. ' 
 
 
 
 This seemed to be an invitation to get out ; 
 and the young man did so, and stood upon the 
 walk as if to help the lady out. 
 
 " Thank you, sir," she said, stepping lightly 
 down. " I'm not such an old woman that I can't 
 get out of my own carriage. Please go up with 
 the jnan, and wait for me." 
 
 Evidently, Miss Brown was a person who ex- 
 pected to be obeyed. Then came a confused 
 sense of passing into warm, luxurious rooms, rich 
 with pictures and furniture, and at last they 
 came to a curtained door. The servant led the 
 way past the curtain, and Sebastian found him- 
 self in a large place, dimly lighted by a single 
 student-lamp on a piano. 
 
 It was a large room, lofty and somewhat longer 
 than wide, with hard-wood floor and painted walls. 
 There was a row of windows, closed by blinds 
 on the inside ; along one side of the room ; and 
 at the end where he stood the floor was cov- 
 ered with a large rug. Near the piano was a 
 small pipe organ, and a harp. The rest of the
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA XI EF. 
 
 79 
 
 room was bare, save in one distant corner were 
 gathered together a great number of cane chairs. 
 There were also shelves along the wall, rilled 
 with music in sheets and books. The footman 
 offered a seat, and then left the young man 
 alone in the great room. Never had he seen 
 anything more conveniently and splendidly ar- 
 ranged for music. It was evidently at once studio 
 and concert-room. Miss Brown, whoever she 
 might prove to be, was certainly an admirer of 
 music. 
 
 " Please be seated Mr. Strove. I wish to talk 
 to you." 
 
 The lady had entered the room by the cur- 
 tained door, in silence; and he hastily looked for 
 a chair to offer her. 
 
 "Thank you, sir. I'll sit here. Oh! I for- 
 got. First, I want you to sing to me. Take 
 the piano or organ, whichever you prefer." 
 
 With that, she drew a large arm-chair on the 
 rug before the piano, and sat down. 
 
 It was an embarrassing situation, a total
 
 g o ZEGELDA KOMA.VJEF. 
 
 stranger in this rich and apparently eccentric 
 wonvin's house, and asked to sing in this off- 
 hand manner, as if it were the most natural 
 thing in the world ! 
 
 Fortunately, he was equal to the occasion. 
 She had meant it as a test ; and, had he hesi 4 - 
 tated or pleaded any inability, it is highly prob- 
 able that this would have been his first and 
 only appearance in that elegant and fashion- 
 able music-room. He sat down to the piano, 
 and began a simple song from memory. Some- 
 thing about the touch and sound of the splen- 
 did instrument, the hushed room, and perhaps 
 a dim idea that he was, as it were, on trial 
 for his musical life, nerved him to do his best. 
 The song over, Miss Brown said abruptly, 
 
 " Sing something more." 
 
 Three times she did this, without a sign of 
 approval or disapproval, praise or blame. When 
 he had finished, she said, in that peculiar tone 
 that he already recognized as meant for polite 
 command,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA XI E P. gj 
 
 " Please be seated near me. I want to talk to 
 you. People say I am a little crazy," she said 
 this with a slight laugh, "crazy over music. It 
 may be so, but it is an innocent craze ; but one 
 thing is certain : I am sane enough to take care 
 of my own money. The church where you sang 
 this morning was built chiefly through my exer- 
 tions, and in large part with my money. If I had 
 any relatives, I suppose they would say that was 
 insane, too. The organ I built entirely at my own 
 expense. In fact, it is mine. I lend it to the 
 church. Now, I am greatly interested in the suc- 
 cess of the church, but unfortunately it has not 
 been wholly successful. It is very large and not 
 half-filled. Moreover, the music does not please 
 me at all ; and I have decided to take the whole 
 matter into my own hands. I have the consent 
 of the society to supply the music at my own 
 expense, and in such manner as I wish, for two 
 years. The first thing I want is a man like your- 
 self, who can sing and who will help me. For 
 this reason, I asked you to sing for me. I have
 
 g 2 ZEGELDA ROMANIEP. 
 
 heard quite a number already, and you are the 
 first who has wholly pleased me." 
 ' Sebastian would have thanked her, but she held 
 up her hand as if to warn him, and went on, 
 
 " I want you for a musical director in my choir. 
 Do you think yourself equal to the task ? " 
 
 "Well really Miss Brown, your proposal 
 
 
 
 comes so suddenly, I hardly know what to say. 
 I can at least try, and I can certainly do as I 
 am told." 
 
 "That is exactly what I want. I have asked 
 a dozen men if they would accept the place, and 
 not one before you has said he would do as he 
 was told. They all wanted to do what they 
 pleased, not what I liked. I want some one who 
 will do exactly and entirely as I wish. You will 
 not be responsible to any committee, but to me 
 alone. I shall demand your entire services every 
 day, and I will pay you two thousand dollars a 
 year, at least, for the present. If you prove 
 worth more, you shall have it. Of course, I shall 
 be glad to hear any suggestions you may make
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. g^ 
 
 in regard to the music, but the final decision 
 must rest with me. My sole aim in this matter 
 is to show what can be done in the finest pos- 
 sible church music, without regard to expense. 
 Our American church music is generally poor, 
 thin, and trifling. It is my hope to be able to 
 make it better by example." 
 
 She went right on talking rapidly and laying 
 out her plans more in detail, and it was some 
 time before Sebastian could say that he would 
 accept Miss Brown's most liberal and flattering 
 offer. 
 
 "It's purely business, sir. To-morrow, if you 
 will call at three o'clock, my lawyer will have a 
 contract ready for you to sign. The first thing 
 you must do is to find a soprano, a great one, 
 salary not to be considered at all. However, 
 there is no haste. The choir will not be ready 
 for two months, but your duties will begin to- 
 morrow. It will take all that time to get ready 
 for the first Sunday. I shall rely on you to-mor- 
 row. Good-night."
 
 8 4 
 
 ZE GELD A R OMA NIEF. 
 
 Her manner was abrupt, straightforward, and 
 perhaps imperious ; and, when she rose and of- 
 fered her hand, he considered himself dismissed. 
 A maid appeared as -by magic at the curtain, and 
 escorted him to the door. 
 
 How he reached home he never knew. He ran 
 and walked, and perhaps, in the dark places be- 
 tween the gas-lamps, he skipped in boyish glee. 
 Never had he read in any novel of more won- 
 derful and splendid prospects. Now his dreams 
 of what he could do would be fulfilled. How 
 pleased Zegelda would be with his good fortune ! 
 Now she should have a piano and the best 
 teacher money could procure. He must take 
 her some day to Miss Brown's splendid concert- 
 room to sing for her. She was a soprano worth 
 hearing. Why not Zegelda for the soprano? 
 Perhaps her voice, with culture, would be the 
 pearl of great price that all were seeking. 
 
 On reaching his lodgings, he knocked on the 
 landlady's door, and asked if Zegelda and her 
 mother were still up.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 5 
 
 "Lor, sir! They're gone!" 
 
 " Gone ! Gone where? " 
 
 " I don't know, sir. They had some kind of a 
 quarrel in their room this evening, and about an 
 hour ago Mrs. Romanief came down with the key 
 of her room ; and off they goes, bag and baggage 
 what little they had. Says she, as she went 
 out : ' Here's the rent up to next week. We are 
 going away.' ' And where are you going ? ' says 
 I. ' It's no matter.' And with that they went 
 right out into the street. The little one was 
 crying, but I could not keep them, nor would 
 they say where they were going, or how long 
 they would stay. They were a strange lot, sir. 
 I never liked them since they came that Sunday 
 night. I shall not be sorry, if they never come 
 back."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Let all that hath life and breath sing to the Lord. 
 
 WHENEVER any one attempts to do sincere and 
 honest work in music, he is sure to find a reward. 
 The art always satisfies the artist. His reward 
 may not assume the shape of money; but, for all 
 that, it is a reward, it satisfies. To our singer, 
 a poor young man studying and following music 
 hitherto alone, and with only the little approval 
 and sympathy his mother had been able to give 
 him, the proposal made to him by the strange 
 lady, who had so abruptly introduced herself and 
 her plans to him the night before, seemed a 
 dream that would melt away in the clear light of 
 day. He hardly dared to go out of doors in the 
 sharp winter's air, lest the dream shrivel up in
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA.VIEF. g- 
 
 the cold light of common-sense. She had said 
 that people called her crazy. It might be so. 
 She was probably some rich and eccentric woman 
 with a craze for music, and he would probably 
 never hear from her again. 
 
 One fact remained. Zegelda had disappeared. 
 There was no dream about that. Yet, after all, 
 was not her whole appearance, their singular 
 meeting, the mystery of her former life, and her 
 connection with that wretched creature, Sill, 
 was it not all a phantasy, a strange episode in 
 his lonely life, of no meaning, and soon to be 
 forgotten ? 
 
 When the woman told him Zegelda and her 
 mother had disappeared, he was conscious of a 
 shock, a sense of surprise and disappointment. 
 In looking at the whole affair by the calmer light 
 of next day, he made a discovery, he had 
 learned to love the child. No: she was no 
 longer a child, but a woman. In the brief stay 
 she had made under the same roof, she had won 
 his heart. An overwhelming sense of loss, of
 
 gg ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 disappointment and misery, seemed to cover him. 
 She had left him, of her own free will : she had 
 deliberately run away, without sign of explanation 
 or farewell. He would go out of doors, and try 
 to walk off something of the wretchedness and 
 sense of loss he experienced. Perhaps he could 
 find some trace of her at the music-stores. He 
 would even 'hunt up the agent, Sill, and see if 
 he knew anything of the girl. 
 
 As he opened his door, he found a scrap of 
 paper on the floor. He picked it up and opened 
 it. It was merely a bit of yellow wrapping-paper, 
 with something written upon it in pencil: 
 
 "Mr. Strove, I put you out yesterday in the 
 song, and maid you lose your place. I never can be 
 any good to you: I am sorry. Good-bye, Zegelda." 
 
 Poor little misspelled, badly written scrawl, yet 
 he kissed it, and then carefully put it away in 
 his trunk; and, if just a tear or two filled his 
 eyes, they were nothing to his discredit. She 
 had run away because she feared she had done 
 him some harm. She must have fancied she was
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 8 9 
 
 a burden to him, a. hindrance in his progress in 
 life and in music. Now he felt sure he loved 
 her. He must find her, if it took every cent he 
 could earn. He must bring her back, tell her 
 
 * 
 
 of his great good fortune, and yes he would 
 some day marry her, and share it with her. 
 The woman might be crazy about music, but she 
 would hardly be so cruel as to offer him employ- 
 ment, unless she really meant it. 
 
 He procured a simple breakfast at a cheap res- 
 taurant. He must economize now; for every dol- 
 lar would be needed for his new mission to find 
 Zegelda, and to win her back to his care and his 
 home. This over, he went out in the direction 
 of the church, in the vague hope that he might 
 meet her, or even Mr. Sill, in the street. As he 
 drew near the church, he saw a team drawn up 
 at the door, and a number of men unloading 
 tools and lumber. On the wagon was the sign 
 of a well-known firm of organ-builders in the city. 
 To his surprise, he found the door of the church 
 open ; and, stepping inside, he found a man on
 
 QQ ZEGELDA ROMA XI EF. 
 
 guard, who said no one was to be admitted ex- 
 cept on business. 
 
 "That's Miss Brown's orders, and she's the 
 boss here now." 
 
 " Is Miss Brown here ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir. She's inside, with the architect and 
 the organ-builder." 
 
 After a brief talk, the man permitted Sebastian 
 to pass, and he entered the church. All the 
 pews and the pulpit were draped in cloths, and 
 the windows were open to give plenty of light. 
 In a pew near the centre of the house sat Miss 
 Brown, and beside her stood two gentlemen. The 
 moment she saw him she smiled and beckoned to 
 him. He went to her, when, to his surprise, she 
 presented him to the organ-builder and the archi- 
 tect of the church as the director of the music 
 and her right-hand man. It was not a dream at 
 all. All that she had said the night before was 
 in earnest. The architect and builder were pres- 
 ent to see what alterations were necessary in the 
 organ loft, to fit it for the new choir.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA.VIEF. gj 
 
 "I wish to have a large chorus choir, and that 
 implies plenty of room. We were debating, Mr. 
 Strove, as to what we should do with the organ. 
 Have you any suggestions to make ? " 
 
 The young man, with some hesitation, asked if 
 it would be too much trouble to cut the organ in 
 two, and to place it in the galleries on each side. 
 
 "A very good idea, sir. We will do it." 
 
 To Sebastian, the quiet manner in which the 
 lady said this came as a new sensation. To 
 spend hundreds, perhaps a thousand, dollars thus, 
 in a moment, gave him an assurance of security 
 and confidence. The lady really meant what she 
 said. The splendid vision of the night before was 
 a solid reality. He was really the director of 
 the music, his very first wish had been accepted, 
 and was to be acted upon. 
 
 The architect objected that, as the entrances to 
 the galleries were in the front wall of the church, 
 it would be impossible to put the organ there, as 
 it would close the doors to the galleries. The 
 organ-builder replied at once that the organ could
 
 Q2 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 be lifted up, and the entrance to the gallery 
 could be made under the organ on each side. 
 
 So it was settled the organ was to be cut in 
 two, and placed in the corner of the gallery on 
 either side. The architect quickly drew a rough 
 elevation of the organ in its new position, show- 
 ing the passage-ways under the organ to the 
 doors that opened upon the stairways in the 
 towers of the church. 
 
 "Where will you have the organ-desk, sir?" 
 said the builder. 
 
 Sebastian looked to Miss Brown, as if for in- 
 structions. 
 
 "Decide for yourself, Mr. Strove. You can 
 have it anywhere you wish." 
 
 The young man thought a moment. If there 
 was to be a conductor, and it would hardly be 
 possible to carry on a chorus without one, he 
 would face the choir, and the organist should 
 be near him. So he decided the desk should be 
 placed in the centre between the organs; and, 
 if not involving too great expense, it would be
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 93 
 
 better to have the organist sit quite near the 
 front of the gallery, and facing the church. 
 
 " Expense is not to be considered," said Miss 
 Brown. "That's decidedly the best place for the 
 desk, and it will be placed there." 
 
 Then she turned to the architect, and had a 
 somewhat lengthy conversation with him. The 
 organ-builder considered himself dismissed, and 
 went upstairs to his men, who were already 
 taking out the front pipes of the instrument. 
 Sebastian sat down in a neighboring pew to wait 
 instructions from his new employer. 
 
 Evidently, expense was not to be considered. 
 The music was to be of the best. There was to 
 be a grand chorus, and, of course, a quartet of 
 solo voices. What fine effects could be obtained 
 by the union of the two ! Of course, the choir 
 would be large enough to admit of choruses by 
 the male voices alone, or all the female voices. 
 When he was a boy, on his father's farm, he had 
 dreams of what he would do, if he ever be- 
 came a conductor. Now he was something bet-
 
 94 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA.VIEF. 
 
 ter, manager of a fine church choir. His pulse 
 quickened at the thought. Perhaps they would 
 have some of the rich and highly colored music 
 such as he had heard in Catholic churches. No : 
 the people might not like that. And yet, why 
 not ? As the old master said : " If you praise 
 the Lord, why not do it with joy and gladness, 
 and with all the pomp and splendor possible ? " 
 
 Presently, the architect bowed himself out ; and 
 Miss Brown came over to where he sat, and took 
 a seat in the pew behind him. 
 
 "As I told you, sir, last night, I wish you to 
 take control of the music of this church, under 
 my direction. You will not find it a pleasant 
 place at first. It was only with the greatest diffi- 
 culty I got the congregation to consent to give 
 me sole charge of the music. I think you will 
 find that the present choir will oppose everything 
 we do. It's of no consequence. I wish you to 
 sing in the choir till the new arrangement begins 
 in May. If you like any of the people in the 
 choir, you may engage them for my choir, in
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 95 
 
 the chorus only. They are none of them good 
 enough for soloists. Neither will the organist do 
 for the new instrument. He may, however, do 
 very well as the pianist. 
 
 " Piano ! madam ! Shall you have a piano in 
 church ? " 
 
 "Certainly. I shall have a grand piano and a 
 harp, and occasionally an orchestra. I'll explain 
 all these things in due time. The first thing I 
 wish you to do is to organize a choir of men and 
 boys, of not less than twenty voices. Then I 
 wish you to collect a second choir of mixed 
 voices, together with a third choir composed 
 wholly of young girls. We "will also have a 
 double quartet of the best solo talent to be 
 found," 
 
 "But, madam, think of the expense. It will 
 cost thousands of dollars to maintain such an 
 establishment. It will be as expensive as a grand 
 opera company." 
 
 "I think I told you, sir, expense is not to be 
 considered. It is your duty to provide what I 
 wish. I'll attend to all the rest."
 
 g5 ZEGELDA ROMA. VI EF. 
 
 " I beg pardon, madam. The plan is so mag- 
 nificent that it at first frightened me." 
 
 " Well, well, say no more about it. The organ- 
 builder and architect think the improvements can 
 be made in about two months. The organ is 
 to be enlarged to twice its present size, and is to 
 be fitted to a peculiar duty. You can call to- 
 morrow at the factory, and see what you think of 
 my plans." 
 
 She here began to draw on her shawl, as if to 
 
 "You will not fail to be at my house at three 
 this afternoon, to sign the contract. Meanwhile, 
 I shall insert an advertisement for singers, both 
 boys and girls, men and women. I have ar- 
 ranged my music-room so that the rehearsals 
 may be at my house; and you may say in the 
 advertisement the applicants may call at my 
 house to-morrow night, and you can try their 
 voices in the music-room. Oh, by the way, the 
 most important thing of all is to secure a so- 
 prano. Do you know of one ? "
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. Q- 
 
 "Yes, I think I do; but, unfortunately, .1 do 
 not know where she lives." 
 
 "Oh, you must find her. Ask at the music- 
 stores. If she is the right person, I will pay her 
 well. Good-morning. Remember. My house at 
 three." 
 
 With that, she was gone. Upstairs, the men 
 were busy taking the organ to pieces. Already 
 the dust began to fill the church, and the sexton 
 came in to open more windows. He seemed to 
 recognize Sebastian, for he said, 
 
 "Old Miss Brown have her way at last. She 
 will make or break the church, that's my 
 opinion." 
 
 " I think she will make it : at any rate, I mean 
 to help her." 
 
 " Lor ! you're the new director she was talking 
 about. I'm the sexton, I am. I heard tell you 
 would want new voices. I know lots of 'em, first- 
 rate singers ; and, if ye want to make a trade, I 
 can help ye. Will charge 'em commission for the 
 places, and divy on it."
 
 9 8 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA VI EF. 
 
 The young man looked the old fellow full in 
 the face, and then deliberately marched out of 
 the church without a word. 
 
 The freedom of American life has had a 
 marked effect upon music in this country. The 
 liberty to do very much as he pleases has led 
 the lover of music to do many things that are 
 far from pleasing. In no other country do the 
 people generally sing praises by proxy, delegating 
 the songs of an entire congregation to four sing- 
 ers who sit apart .in artistic reserve, while the 
 congregation sit below in grim and critical silence, 
 either pleasantly entertained by the show or idly 
 wondering how much the music costs per note. 
 Any other people would have first asked what 
 was the best thing to do, and, having decided 
 this, would not have stopped to consider any- 
 thing else. 
 
 The American quartet choir is a compromise. 
 The people do not choose to sing. They have a 
 dim idea that four singers can give good music, 
 and that they do not cost much; and so they
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA XI EF. f^. 
 
 Vy 
 
 pitched upon a choir of two men and two women 
 as the correct thing for church music. In a 
 certain way, they are right ; for the four natural 
 voices are united, and that is something. It is, 
 however, much as if a painter had said : " Black 
 upon white gives good strong, clear effects. I'll 
 use no other colors." The result, as far as it 
 goes, is good ; but a picture in black and white 
 alone is wanting in the charm of color. It is 
 like a photograph, tiresome and unsatisfactory. 
 The music of a church quartet is like a drawing 
 in black and white. It lacks musical color, and 
 is thin, tiresome, and uninteresting; and yet our 
 churches are content with this cheap and poverty- 
 stricken anangement. 
 
 This was, in substance, what Miss Tabatha 
 Brown said to Sebastian the day after their inter- 
 view in the church. 
 
 " I have put an advertisement in all the daily 
 papers, saying that you wished singers for your 
 new choir. You are to represent me in this 
 matter, and so your name appears on the adver- 
 tisement."
 
 TOO 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEP. 
 
 With that, she handed him a newspaper. 
 It was certainly an attractive advertisement: 
 " Wanted at once choir singers of both sexes, from 
 nine years of age and upwards. Must be able to 
 read at sight. Salaries payable weekly. Apply at 
 No. 97 West Sixty-third Street, Sebastian Strove" 
 
 " Number ninety-seven is the rear entrance to 
 my house, and leads directly to the music-room. 
 You will meet the people there, and try each 
 voice for its quality and power, and examine each 
 one as to their ability to read music at sight. 
 This last test is essential, as I wish the music to 
 be continually changed ; and much of the music 
 must, of necessity, be in manuscript." 
 
 The effect of the advertisement was remarkable. 
 Two hundred and ten people of every age and 
 condition applied at the door of the music-room 
 before twelve o'clock, and before night there were 
 one hundred and fifty more, and during the even- 
 ing still another hundred. It was impossible to 
 examine them all, and each was given a slip of 
 paper on which was written the day and hour
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAtflEF. 
 
 10 1 
 
 they might return for examination. The following 
 day fifty more applicants appeared, and seventy 
 applications by mail were received; and the next 
 day after brought twenty applicants and more 
 than three hundred letters. Every name was en- 
 tered in a book, and every letter answered by 
 postal-card, appointing a day for examination ; 
 and then the examinations began. Boys were 
 received at nine in the ^morning, girls at two in 
 the afternoon, and adults in the evening. It took 
 four days to hear them all; and then the names 
 of the successful candidates were announced in 
 the daily papers, as a simple means of informing 
 the entire nine hundred of their success or fail- 
 ure. 
 
 The standard established by Sebastian was very 
 simple. The candidate must sing a piece of 
 
 manuscript music of moderate difficulty, alone, 
 
 % 
 without accompaniment, and at sight. He must 
 
 also sing a printed second part to another voice, 
 without accompaniment and at sight. The object 
 sought in the new choir was to give new music
 
 IO2 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 every week, precisely as the players in an orches- 
 tra may give new selections every night. The 
 quality and power of the voice being reasonably 
 good, the whole question turned on ability to 
 read. Of what avail is it if the voice is fluent, 
 if it cannot easily, promptly, and correctly trans- 
 late the thoughts of the composer? It is on this 
 point that so much of our American musical cult- 
 ure is deficient. Any one who pretends to an 
 English education is supposed to be able to read 
 a newspaper aloud at sight. Why not the same 
 in music ? It is very certain if the singer or 
 player cannot read ordinary music with equal 
 ease, he is not a musician, however nimble his 
 fingers or well trained his voice. 
 
 At the end of the week, Sebastian had only 
 been able to select, out of nine hundred appli- 
 cants, twelve boys, fourteen young girls, nine 
 men, and twelve women. Scores of fine voices 
 were passed with hardly any trial at all. Many 
 came bringing songs which they wished to sing. 
 
 "I only want you to do one thing, read at
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAXIEP. 
 
 103 
 
 sight. If you cannot do that, I have no need of 
 your services." 
 
 The extraordinary ignorance of this great mass 
 of supposed singers was so discouraging that it 
 seemed as if Miss Brown's scheme would fail, 
 from a simple lack of the musical talent to carry 
 out her plans. 
 
 "Never mind," said she: "we will advertise 
 again in the neighboring towns. It will be ex- 
 traordinary if we cannot find a hundred competent 
 readers in the country." 
 
 On the Sunday, Sebastian resumed his place in 
 the choir. The revolution in the musical affairs 
 of the church seemed to be regarded by the other 
 members of the choir as a personal injury. They 
 would have nothing to do with the new scheme, 
 and not one applied for admission to the new 
 choir. They even darkly hinted of dreadful things 
 that would soon happen. The organ was disman- 
 tled and could not be used, and this set the con- 
 gregation to much thinking during the service and 
 voluble remarks in the corridors after they had
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 been dismissed. Not one had a. good word to 
 say for the unselfish woman who had set out to 
 do what she could for the music of this church, 
 and, as it afterwards proved, for the whole coun- 
 try. Sebastian did his duty, and made neither re- 
 monstrance nor reply. His day was at hand. It 
 was better to do than to talk. 
 
 Miss Brown would not listen so quietly, and 
 said with some spirit, 
 
 " I have your written consent to this plan. I 
 pay all the bills, and I propose to do very much 
 as I please. Our church music is poor and thin. 
 We do not use half the range of musical color. 
 We are content with threads and lines, while we 
 might have masses of color and broad and vigo- 
 rous effects. Our church choirs need reforming; 
 and, as the churches are unwilling or unable to 
 do this, I mean to reform my own choir." 
 
 The minister, good and timid man, thought the 
 scheme might be excellent, but it was entirely 
 impractical. It might tend to detract from the 
 sermon. As for the young person she had chosen
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN1EF. 
 
 105 
 
 to carry out her plans, he was not on visiting 
 terms with any family in the congregation, and 
 must be a person of no consequence whatever. 
 Even the sexton, who had been so ready to turn 
 a dishonest penny out of the affair, shook his 
 head, and said the church was going to the bad. 
 There were seventy pews to let in the church 
 now, and, if the new-fangled music came in, there 
 would not be ten people in the house. 
 
 For Sebastian, it seemed as if he had entered 
 upon a new and beautiful life. His ideas, at first 
 timidly offered, were respectfully considered and 
 then acted upon. The first payment of his salary 
 came promptly; and, thus relieved from anxiety, 
 he began to make discoveries of himself. His 
 mind worked quicker. New ideas, new plans and 
 hopes and aspirations, came to him. He began 
 to see the power of capital applied to art. If the 
 lady would carry out his ideas, he would soon 
 realize the dreams of his boyhood, and perhaps 
 do something to render divine service more dig- 
 nified and more beautiful by all the resources of 
 music.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 Miss Brown entered into all his plans with 
 ardor. She was ready with new suggestions, and 
 to his enthusiasm added experience and wisdom. 
 He suggested that new music should be written 
 for the choir, that a prize be offered for an an- 
 them for the three choirs, so as to use them all 
 in the manner of an orchestra; and she at once 
 offered over $1,000 in prizes for new composi- 
 tions suitable for church service. 
 
 The rumor spread through the country that 
 there was to be a new and magnificent choir, and 
 the singers in nearly every church in the city ap- 
 plied for places. The new advertisement brought 
 out over four hundred candidates, and at the end 
 of the second week the choir was complete ex- 
 cept in soloists. 
 
 It was arranged in this way. First, there was 
 a choir consisting of ten sopranos, six altos, eight 
 tenors, and twelve basses. Secondly, there was 
 a choir composed of sixteen boys, sopranos 
 and altos, and twenty tenors and basses. Lastly, 
 there was a choir composed of young girls only, 
 six altos, six mezzo-sopranos, and twenty sopranos.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 lO/ 
 
 Every one was obliged to sign a contract to 
 sing in the choir for one year at a fixed salary, 
 payable every Saturday. They were obliged by 
 this contract to sing twice every Sunday for fifty- 
 two weeks, at Christmas and Easter and ten 
 other special occasions, subject to the call of the 
 director. They were also obliged to attend two 
 rehearsals every week, and to submit to a fine 
 for absence from church or rehearsal or tardi- 
 ness in attendance at the hours named by the 
 director. The contract was very stringent; and a 
 few refused to sign it, and were dropped. As 
 Miss Brown expressed it, "I propose to manage 
 this affair to suit myself; I pay every one, and 
 shall demand their services in any manner I 
 wish. I am to be mistress, and not -the choir. 
 Mr. Strove represents me, and he is the sole 
 authority in everything regarding the music." 
 
 It was a clever business arrangement, and, 
 when fully understood, was readily accepted, and 
 was faithfully carried out to the letter on both 
 sides. Beside the choir, there was also a reserve
 
 IO8 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 choir that might be called upon at any time, so 
 that the working choir was always up to its full 
 complement of voices. These reserved singers 
 were, however, to be paid only when employed. 
 All the salaries and rehearsals began at once, 
 though it might be many weeks before the first 
 public appearance of the choir in the church. 
 
 Never had any young musician such opportuni- 
 ties. Never had director of church music such 
 magnificent resources. Here was a fine large 
 chorus of mixed voices, a choir of boys and men, 
 and a strong female choir rich in fresh young so- 
 pranos. Either choir alone could give splendid 
 musical effects. United, they would make a grand 
 vocal orchestra. Contrasted, placed one against 
 the other, boy sopranos against girl altos, boy 
 altos with mixed female voices, or backed up by 
 all the basses, the combinations would be end- 
 less, the effects full of perpetual variety and 
 vocal color. He could put all the boys with all 
 the girls' voices, put all the boys in the soprano 
 part with the mixed chorus, or unite all the
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 basses with the girls' sopranos, or all the male 
 and female altos with the tenors or basses or 
 both, or he could unite every voice in one splen- 
 did choir, rich in varied qualities of sopranos 
 and with a strong bass under all. 
 
 The system of rehearsals for the new choir 
 was arranged in this way. The male choir met 
 on Monday and Thursday evenings. The mixed 
 choir met on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the girl 
 choir on Wednesdays and Saturdays. This ar- 
 rangement continued for three weeks ; and then 
 they all met on Wednesdays and Saturdays, in 
 this manner, the female choir at six o'clock, the 
 men and boys at seven, and all at eight o'clock. 
 Each rehearsed for one hour, and then there was 
 a rest for half an hour, and then all rehearsed 
 together from half-past nine till half-past ten. 
 
 At the first rehearsals, each one received a 
 book of practice music only, consisting of a selec- 
 tion of the usual styles of music used in churches, 
 chants, anthems, hymns, etc. Beside this, each 
 received a number of sheets of manuscript music,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 each containing one part only. The idea was to 
 treat the choir as an orchestra; and each singer 
 had only his own part, and knew nothing of 
 what others might have to do. 
 
 The first general rehearsal, when all were 
 united for the first time, was a revelation in 
 vocal music, a discovery in art, the opening of a 
 new and splendid field in church music, some- 
 thing so novel and striking that the choir was 
 instantly kindled to the highest enthusiasm for its 
 new work and its new director. 
 
 The splendid music-room was brilliantly lighted. 
 The girls' choir had met at six o'clock, the male 
 choir came at seven, and at eight the mixed choir 
 appeared, and for the first time they all met, and 
 made each other's acquaintance. Sebastian briefly 
 introduced them to each other, and then the 
 mixed choir rehearsed alone. At half-past nine, 
 the doors were thrown open, and Miss Brown, 
 together with a brilliant company of invited 
 guests, including the critics of the leading papers, 
 came in and took seats. The chorus was ar-
 
 ZEGELDA RO.VIAXIEP. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ranged in a semicircle at the end of the room, 
 the mixed choir in the centre, the male choir on 
 the right, and the girls' choir on the left. A 
 competent accompanist had been employed, and 
 was seated at the piano in the centre of the half- 
 circle ; and Sebastian took his place upon a 
 platform behind the piano near the centre. 
 
 When everything was ready, Sebastian called 
 his forces to order, and thus addressed them : 
 
 "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we 
 have met for the first time as a new musical 
 organization to try a new experiment in church 
 music. You have in part made each other's 
 acquaintance as three separate choirs, and I 
 already feel you are inspired with a sincere de- 
 sire to do your best to carry out the noble aims 
 of the lady who has so generously established 
 the organization." (There was a round of ap- 
 plause at this.) "There will be eight solo voices 
 added in time, yet all are equal in the work, 
 each one has an honorable share in the music; 
 and, if we all generously work together, ] think
 
 112 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 you will see that each and all may take pride in 
 the new choir." (Again there was applause both 
 from the choir and the audience.) "The first 
 piece we will try is a simple psalm arranged for 
 all the .voices. You will read it from the manu- 
 scripts you have been studying for the past three 
 weeks. Are you ready?"
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 O sing unto the Lord a new song ! Psalnts. 
 
 OBSERVE the structure of the choir. It is es- 
 sentially three choirs united, and is -practically 
 one choir with eleven parts. First is the adult 
 mixed choir, in four parts ; next, the men and 
 boys' choir, in four parts; and, lastly, the girls' 
 choir, in three parts, or apparently only nine 
 parts, as the bass and tenors in the two first 
 choirs are the same. In reality, they were not; 
 for the bass of the mixed choir was considered a 
 first bass, and the bass of the second choir was a 
 second bass, making on the score laid upon the 
 conductor's desk eleven real parts. It may be 
 objected that this division of parts was only imag- 
 inary, and that the three soprano parts were
 
 114 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EP. 
 
 really only one. The distinction is correct. The 
 boy sopranos are a distinct part or voice, like- 
 wise the girls or women, precisely as in the 
 orchestra the first violins and the flutes may 
 and do play the same notes, yet no one thinks 
 of calling them only one part in the score. This 
 assemblage of singers, met under the direction of 
 Sebastian Strove, and in the pay of Miss Brown, 
 is believed to be entirely novel. It is divided ac- 
 cording to the natural and well-defined qualities 
 of the human voice, as found in men, women, 
 boys, and girls. Every composer has written for 
 these voices, and this is merely a union of them 
 all in one vocal organization. This explanation is 
 essential to a right understanding of the remark- 
 able performance that immediately followed the 
 speech Sebastian made to the singers. 
 
 It was a setting of Psalm xcviii. of the Com- 
 mon Prayer-Book, in eleven parts, as arranged by 
 Sebastian from an anthem (in four parts) he ob- 
 tained from a church music-book. The music 
 itself was good, but of no special merit. Of this,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. j j - 
 
 we now care nothing, as the interest centres 
 wholly on the vocal orchestration of the work. 
 
 It began with these words : " O sing unto the 
 Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous 
 things. With his own right hand, and with his 
 holy arm, hath he gotten himself the victory" and 
 was sung in the following manner : the sopranos 
 of the mixed choir, which may be distinguished 
 as simply the soprano, took up the first words 
 as a solo, and were joined by the bass and tenor 
 in trio on the second line. At the words '''hath 
 he gotten" etc., the girl sopranos joined the mel- 
 ody. It was as if that part had been suddenly 
 touched with a white light. The silvery bright- 
 ness of the girls' voices seemed a second tone 
 laid over the soprano, and -yet part of it, and giv- 
 ing it an entirely new character. Those who 
 were not occupied were struck with the effect; 
 and there was a kindling of eyes and a sense of 
 excitement that, had not Sebastian held them 
 firmly in hand, would have been disastrous. 
 
 Small time for thought, for, with a sweep of
 
 jjg ZEGELDA ROMA XI EF. 
 
 the baton, all the tenors and basses were joined- 
 in four parts in a male quartet. The current of 
 the music had widened and spread along the 
 back of the choir. " The Lord declared his salva- 
 tion ; his righteousness hath he openly showed in the 
 sight of the heathen" The girls and women were 
 startled by the abrupt change in the music ; and 
 some were so absorbed in listening to the music, 
 they nearly lost their places. At the next 
 line, "He hath remembered" etc., a portion of the 
 tenors ceased; and the melody sprang to the boy 
 sopranos, thus making a quartet of soprano, first 
 tenor, first and second bass. Here was a new 
 combination, a new quality of tone. 
 
 At the words beginning, "Show yourselves joy- 
 ful unto the Lord" etc., the sopranos and altos 
 were in duet. The next line, "Praise the Lord 
 upon the harp, sing to the harp with thanksgiving" 
 was given to the girls alone, in three parts, 
 soprano, mezzo, and alto. The effect of this 
 sudden change, from boys and men to the close- 
 wrought harmony and penetrating tone of the
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN1EF. jj- 
 
 female voices, was not only wonderfully effective, 
 but surprisingly beautiful. It was really an or- 
 chestral effect. 
 
 The next line, " With trumpets and shawms" 
 was by all the tenors and basses ; and at the 
 next line the melody was caught up by the girls' 
 voices, the sopranos and mezzos being united. 
 Here, again, was a new combination, a new tone 
 color. At the line beginning, "Let the sea make a 
 noise," the mixed choir had the music in four 
 parts. At the words, "Let the floods clap their 
 hands" the male choir joined them, the boy so- 
 pranos carrying the melody, and the boy altos 
 joining the adult altos, with all the men in two 
 parts only. At the last line, " With righteousness 
 shall he judge the world" etc., the entire choir 
 was massed together, all the girls' voices being 
 combined in the melody, and the boy sopranos 
 taking to the tenor part. 
 
 For a moment there was a pause. Neither 
 singers nor audience seemed to know what to do 
 or say. The performance had been so unique, so
 
 U g ZE GEL DA R OMA NIE F. 
 
 unlike any choir music heard before, they were 
 lost for words to express their admiration. Then 
 there sprung up spontaneously a hearty round of 
 applause from all present, except Sebastian. Miss 
 Brown rose from her seat, and, coining forward, 
 took him by the hand, and said, so that all 
 might hear : 
 
 "You have carried out my ideas to perfection, 
 and in a manner that far exceeded my expecta- 
 tions. I must give you the credit of doing more 
 with my plans than I thought possible." 
 
 This was followed by a hearty round of ap- 
 plause from the choir. 
 
 If the young man had been a city youth, he 
 would have been greatly flattered, and perhaps 
 upset and spoiled by such praise. He had been 
 a student only, a dreamer and a recluse. He 
 knew the toils he had passed through, the priva- 
 tions he had endured to get his education, and 
 he knew his own shortcomings too well to be 
 disturbed. 
 
 He said to his patron : " I thank you for your
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. j jg 
 
 good opinion ; but it is, I fear, misplaced, or at 
 least premature. The choir have not yet got to 
 work, and they are not yet accustomed to this 
 style of music." 
 
 "Then I am the more pleased," said the lady, 
 with a smile. "If this is only the beginning, I 
 do not know what new delights and surprises you 
 will bring us." 
 
 Then she returned to her seat among her 
 friends. As for them, they remarked among 
 themselves that "this time Miss Brown had se- 
 cured the right sort of lion, and that her ideas of 
 church music would really come to something." 
 
 Sebastian turned to the choir, and said briefly : 
 "I am much obliged to you for your approval, 
 but let us not forget that this is the first at- 
 tempt. Try to get accustomed to hearing the 
 music move from part to 'part, and do not watch 
 the others, but look out for your own work. 
 You did very well for the first time, but we must 
 not be content. We have much to learn before 
 we are welded into a complete yocal orchestra."
 
 120 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 The next piece was a hymn set to the familiar 
 hymn-tune entitled Germany. There were four 
 verses ; and they were given without pause or 
 interlude, by simply repeating the tune as a 
 whole, but with a different arrangement of the 
 voices each time. There was a prelude of only 
 a few bars on the piano, merely to give the key 
 and time, and not in any way suggesting the 
 melody to follow. The hymn began with the 
 melody of the tune by all the soprano girls. 
 They sang one line only, and then they were 
 joined by the girls.' voices on the mezzo part, 
 thus making a duet. The third line was a trio 
 by the boy sopranos and altos and the second 
 tenors. The fourth line was in full harmony, the 
 boy and girl sopranos having the melody, the 
 boys and mezzo girls having the alto> the girl 
 altos and second tenors .having the third part, and 
 the second bass having the bass of the tune. 
 The piano had the simple score of the tune, and 
 gave the full harmony. This finished the first 
 verse.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIES. 
 
 121 
 
 The second verse followed at once, the so- 
 pranos having the melody alone on the first line, 
 and continuing it till the end of the verse. At 
 the second line, they were joined by the boy altos 
 and the first bass in a trio. The third line was a 
 trio in parts, and arranged in this way,p- sopranos 
 and girls in the soprano on the melody, boys on 
 the alto and the second tenors. The last line was 
 massed up in four parts, with the sopranos, the 
 soprano and mezzo girls on the air, the boy and 
 girl altos united, and the second tenors and basses. 
 
 The third verse was treated- more as a single 
 melody, the first tenors giving the first line of 
 the melody, the altos taking it on the second 
 line, and the altos and the girl sopranos and 
 mezzos having the trio in the third line. The 
 fourth line was in four parts again, with" both 
 altos and mezzos among the girls on the melody, 
 the altos taking their own part, and assisted by 
 the first tenors and first basses. 
 
 The last verse was wholly choral, and began 
 in the mixed choir in four parts. They had two
 
 122 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEP. 
 
 lines; and in the third line, where the trio comes 
 in the tune, the altos, sopranos, and tenors were 
 joined by the boy sopranos and altos, and the 
 second tenors, thus- doubling each part. In the 
 last verse, the entire choir was massed as a 
 whole, the soprano and mezzo girls and the boy 
 sopranos all being concentrated on the melody, 
 and the other parts being simply doubled, 
 throughout. 
 
 It was difficult to say which were the most 
 pleased with this performance, the* listeners or 
 the "choir. The effect was so novel, so highly 
 colored, and so varied in tone at every line, 
 that it was like seeing a beautiful picture. The 
 melody was always there, now in one part, now 
 in another, the harmony continually shifting in 
 tone, color, and yet fully sustained by the accom- 
 paniment that rigidly followed the construction 
 of the tune. The tune itself is melodious, and 
 readily lent itself to this orchestral treatment, the 
 trio in the third line naturally suggesting a varied 
 treatment of the parts.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 123 
 
 It may be worth while to briefly observe the 
 actual effect of such an arrangement of a tune. 
 
 The tune began as a solo, followed by a duet, 
 in the pure silvery voices of the girls, with these 
 words : " There seems a voice in every gale, a tongue 
 in every opening flower" At once, the melody 
 moved to the boys and men in a trio with the 
 third line, " Which tells, O Lord, the wondrous 
 tale" and instantly the music is fully choral on 
 the last line, " Of thy indulgence, love, and power" 
 The boy sopranos and girl sopranos carry the 
 melody,, clear, bright, and incisive, over the rich 
 harmony of girls, boys, and men, united on the 
 other parts. 
 
 The next verse assumes an entirely different 
 character. The adult sopranos carry the melody 
 of the verse through : 
 
 " The birds that rise on soaring wing 
 Appear to Aymn their Maker's praise, 
 And all the mingling sounds of spring 
 To Thee a general anthem raise" 
 
 On the second line, it is a duet between the
 
 124 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN1EP. 
 
 sopranos, boys and men. On the third line, this 
 trio is reinforced by adding the girl sopranos to 
 the melody, and the last line is choral ; all the 
 girls, except the altos, uniting on the soprano, 
 and the girl and boy altos being united on one 
 part, the whole sustained by the second tenors 
 and basses. There the effect was entirely dif- 
 ferent, growing richer and fuller, the tune being 
 really performed after the first line by men, boys, 
 and girls, assisted by the adult sopranos. 
 
 The third verse began with the tenors on the 
 line, " And shall my voice, Great God, atone." 
 The altos take up the line, "Be mute 'midst 
 nature's loud acclaim ? " The third line follows in 
 trio with female voices alone on the words, "No, 
 let my heart with answering tone" when the first 
 basses are added to these female voices to make 
 a quartet, the two girls' parts being doubled on 
 the melody. Here again is an- entirely different 
 tonal coloring, and fitting the sentiment of the 
 words perfectly. ^ 
 
 The last verse is choral throughout, growing
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. j^,- 
 
 riclier as it proceeds, the melody standing out 
 clear and sharp with the three soprano parts 
 
 united. 
 
 " And nature's debt is small to mine: 
 Thou bad"st her being bounded be ; 
 But, matchless proof of love divine, 
 Thou gav'st immortal life to me" 
 
 Just at the conclusion of this piece, a servant 
 entered and spoke to Miss Brown. She seemed 
 somewhat concerned for a moment, and then the 
 servant spoke to Sebastian, 
 
 " If you please, sir, there is a woman below 
 wishes to see you. She says she cannot wait." 
 
 Bidding the choir rest for a moment, he fol- 
 lowed the servant past the curtained doorway 
 into the dimly lighted parlor, and past that into 
 the dining-room, where the servants were busily 
 preparing supper, and then on into the hall. 
 
 Upon the carved oaken chair by the door sat a 
 woman in faded black, dusty, travel-stained, and 
 apparently bowed with grief. 
 
 " You wished to see me, madam Oh ! " And,
 
 126 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 disregarding the servant, he took the woman in his 
 arms as she rose, and kissed her thin, pale face. 
 There was a rustle of silk behind him, and he 
 turned to see who came. It was Miss Brown, 
 standing in severe and frigid silence before them. 
 
 "Who is this person, Mr. Strove?" 
 
 "My mother, madam."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 He, watching over Israel, slumbers not nor sleeps. Elijah, 
 
 Miss TABATHA BROWN was a person of tact 
 and kindly heart. She saw that Mrs. Strove had 
 come from a distance, and met her son for the 
 first time after a long separation. She called a 
 servant, and bade him prepare the library for 
 Mrs. Strove, where she could wait till the re- 
 hearsal was finished ; and, telling Sebastian he 
 might remain with his mother for a few moments, 
 she ordered the supper-room to be opened, to 
 divert the attention of the choir and her guests 
 from his temporary absence. 
 
 The moment he was alone with his mother, 
 Sebastian told her briefly what was going on ; 
 and she, taking in the situation, said nothing of
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA XI EF. 
 
 her journey and arrival, except to explain that 
 she had arrived alone in the city, and, going to 
 his" lodgings, had left her things, and had followed 
 him to the rehearsal. The real reason of her 
 appearance in the city she withheld till a more 
 convenient season. 
 
 The choir sang twice after the supper, and 
 then went home, highly pleased with their new 
 employer, their young director, and themselves. 
 Sebastian returned home with his mother in Miss 
 Brown's private carriage ; and, when they were 
 alone at his lodgings, she told him all that had 
 befallen her within the last few days. A tornado, 
 such as are common in the West, had struck the 
 house in the night, and destroyed it in a mo- 
 ment. His father and two brothers and his 
 youngest sister were instantly killed. She alone 
 had escaped, unharmed. His other brothers and 
 sisters were employed and living in other places, 
 and had escaped. The storm had also ruined 
 the crops and overturned the orchards. None of 
 his brothers or sisters were doing more than sup-
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. I2 Q 
 
 port themselves. Therefore, she had buried her 
 dead, sold the ruined farm for a pittance, and 
 had come to the East, to him, as her only stay in 
 life. The news, dreadful as it was, did not move 
 him greatly. His father had not been a true 
 father to him. His brothers and sisters he hardly 
 knew, except as children. His ways had not 
 been their ways, and they had of late years grown 
 apart. 
 
 Now was he glad of his success. He would take 
 better lodgings at once, and his mother should 
 keep his home for him. He told her all, his 
 good and ill fortune, omitting nothing, save the 
 episode of his acquaintance with Zegelda Ro- 
 manief. At last, all had been told ; and the land- 
 lady kindly offered Mrs. Strove shelter for the 
 night, and gave her the room lately occupied by 
 Zegelda and her mother. 
 
 In the morning, Sebastian at once prepared to 
 remove with his mother to better quarters. He 
 would take a flat, and she should keep house for 
 him till till he found Zegelda. They went out
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 to breakfast, and then returned to Sebastian's 
 room. When they were alone, his mother drew 
 from her pocket a soiled and faded photograph, 
 while in her eyes there began to kindle a strange 
 light, as when one turns over whitened ashes to 
 find a glow beneath. Showing the card to Se- 
 bastian, she said, 
 
 '"^fy son, who is this person ? " 
 
 He took it and examined it carefully, and even 
 went with it to the window, .turning his back upon 
 her. It was a photograph of Zegelda, dressed in 
 some fancy costume. On the card was the name 
 of some photographer in Chicago, with a date of 
 more than three years before. 
 
 " Where did you get it, mother ? " said the 
 young man, without turning round. 
 
 " I found it in the room where I slept last 
 night. Do you know the child? Has she been 
 here lately?" 
 
 The picture had sent the blood to his face, and 
 filled him with sudden emotion. He composed 
 himself as quickly as possible, and said with 
 assumed indifference,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIES. ' j^j 
 
 "It is a young girl, a singer, who lodged here 
 a short time ago." 
 
 "Did you know her, my son?" 
 
 "Yes, I knew her quite well. I saw her often, 
 when she was here." 
 
 "My son, you are concealing something from 
 me. Tell me all you know of this person." 
 
 He could not suppress the truth, and told her 
 of his meeting with Zegelda and what he had 
 done for her, omitting nothing, save the fact that 
 he loved her. How could he tell of that? It 
 was all so new, and perhaps he might never see 
 her again. What use to confess he loved a girl 
 who had disappeared no one knew whither? 
 
 " What was her name ? " 
 
 " Romanief." 
 
 "Romanief! Oh, I knew it, I knew it! It is 
 the same face." 
 
 She spoke quickly and with rising excitement. 
 
 He understood very little that she said, and sat 
 gazing at her in surprise. After a pause, he 
 spoke.
 
 132 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEP. 
 
 " I do not understand it, mother. You say you 
 know the face ? " 
 
 "I know this face! Oh, I did, I did ! A 
 mother well knows her own. Listen, my son, 
 and forgive me, if you can. Once I was the only 
 daughter of a clergyman in Worcester, Massachu- 
 setts. I was indulged in every wish, and was 
 allowed all the freedom accorded to young girls 
 in that secure and safe country. None could be- 
 lieve there were wolves in Massachusetts. Yet 
 one came, a music-teacher from from none 
 knew where. He opened a school in the town, 
 and I was his pupil. He was very handsome, 
 oh, very handsome ; and half the girls in the place 
 lost their hearts to him. Mine he stole com- 
 pletely. I was mad, infatuated, and I loved him. 
 He persuaded me to marry him, and I did, 
 secretly and against my father's wishes. For a 
 while we were prosperous and happy, and we 
 travelled much about the country. Suddenly, he 
 deserted me in Cleveland, Ohio. It was when my 
 only child was about one year old. He aban- 
 doned me, and took the child with him."
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 She paused, overcome by the recital, and there 
 was a painful silence in the room. The shadow 
 of disaster and misery seemed to be gathering 
 about the young man. He seemed chilled by its 
 shade. After an effort, he said as quietly as he 
 could, 
 
 " And you never saw him again, nor the child ? " 
 " No, not once. I sold all the little property 
 he had left with me, and travelled on in search 
 of him and the little one. I lived in various 
 towns through the West, and taught music for 
 a living. I searched all the papers for trace of 
 him, and I found nothing except an advertise- 
 ment of a music school. I went to that town, 
 but too late. He had gone ; and there was a 
 rumor that he had again played false with some 
 poor girl's heart, and had been hunted from the 
 place by her brothers, and it was thought he had 
 been killed. The rumor grew to what seemed 
 a certainty. He met his deserts; and after that 
 more than two years after that I married 
 your father."
 
 134 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA. VIE F. 
 
 "Why did he take the child?" 
 
 " I do not know, unless he thought he might 
 in some way make her of use in his concerts. 
 She had already, as an infant, shown a most pre- 
 cocious talent for music. For my part, i hale 
 music. It is a snare and a bitter grief for all 
 who follow it. I used to think it divine. I know 
 better now. Men who follow music can be vain, 
 false, selfish. It seems to destroy their manliness, 
 and they become infirm of purpose and blind to 
 truth and right." 
 
 " Hush, mother ! I cannot hear you say that." 
 
 " It is the truth, my son. I have seen much 
 of these concert-giving people. They are false 
 and insincere. But I am forgetting. My dead 
 past was not buried all these years. This girl, 
 this singer in this shameful dress, is my child. I 
 feel sure of it. She has her father's face. I 
 must see her at once." 
 
 ' k I fear you cannot see her, mother. She is 
 lost." 
 
 Then he told her of Zegelda's disappearance,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. j , C 
 
 omitting nothing, and even telling of her fear and 
 dread of the agent, Sill. 
 
 The story seemed to completely unnerve the 
 woman. She was faint and ill, and was forced 
 to lie down upon the bed. He soothed her as 
 best he could with promises to find the girl, to 
 bring her back again. He would go at once in 
 search of of this person. 
 
 Meanwhile, his duty called. The rehearsals of 
 the choir took place every night. It was essential 
 that the singers should become accustomed to 
 each other and the new style of music they were 
 to use. As the choir was wholly unique in com- 
 position, there was no music in print adapted to it, 
 and nearly all the music had to be prepared for 
 the choir in manuscript. This involved a great 
 deal of clerical labor, which Sebastian at first 
 undertook to do alone. Miss Brown observed 
 that he was often preoccupied and restless, and, 
 fearing he might be ill, offered to provide a 
 music copyist and assistant. 
 
 " I see you are overworking, sir. That is dan-
 
 136 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN1EF. 
 
 gerous in this climate. Take it more easily, and 
 keep your mind at ease." 
 
 Hollow advice it seemed. How could he rest, 
 how be at ease, and Zegelda, his love no, his 
 He could not speak of it at all, but worked on in 
 feverish anxiety, hoping, trusting, and yet fearing 
 he might find her. 
 
 The time set for the first appearance of the choir 
 was fast approaching. The work on the organ was 
 nearly completed, and already in the church ; and, 
 in fact, throughout the city there was the greatest 
 interest manifested in the new experiment in church 
 music. The newspapers had given glowing ac- 
 counts of the first rehearsal, and the plan of the 
 choir was discussed in editorials more or less able. 
 Some thought the scheme a good one, others were 
 sure no good would ever come of it for the church 
 or for art. The result was that Miss Tabatha 
 Brown and her New Tenor, as he was called, were 
 much talked about, which was really a matter of 
 indifference to them both. 
 
 Sebastian still sang in the old choir; and, as it
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 137 
 
 was well known he was the director of the new 
 organization, the members of the choir and the 
 majority of the people treated him with a certain 
 formal politeness, out of respect for his employer. 
 At the same time, the opinion in the congregation 
 was decidedly opposed to his plan; and many 
 predicted the new choir would be a dismal failure, 
 and that the church would be glad to return to 
 its beloved quartet. The music committee were 
 unanimous that the church would be deserted by 
 all self-respecting Christians as soon as the brass 
 band and opera chorus were introduced into the 
 church. That was the way rumor had put it. 
 The eccentric Miss Brown had completely lost 
 her head, and intended to have a military band 
 and a chime of bells with a monster chorus of 
 cne thousand voices. It was even darkly hinted 
 that a drum-corps had been engaged. Even the 
 minister, good man, deplored the proposed changes, 
 and feared the service of song would be of a vain 
 and worldly character, and ruinous to all interest 
 in the sermon.
 
 138 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 In all this, the young man kept up his search 
 for Zegelda. Having secured a flat and made Ins 
 mother comfortable, he took every hour free from 
 his duties for this hopeless work. He felt sure 
 she had not left the city. There was no better 
 place to hide than in a great city. He appealed 
 to the police; but they had no information con- 
 cerning such a girl, and suggested he look for 
 her among the music-halls and beer-gardens where 
 young girls were sometimes employed to sing. He 
 even hired a detective, but nothing came of it 
 save the expense. He wandered for miles through 
 all the streets. He haunted the music stores and 
 piano-warerooms. None knew of her, none cared 
 for her. A girl lost, it was nothing new. Better 
 let her go ; that kind were not worth looking 
 after. As for the agent, Sill, none of those who 
 knew him had seen him for a long time. He 
 had probably scraped together another deluded 
 company of would be singers, and had gone with 
 them " on the road." 
 
 One night, after rehearsal, he wandered aim-
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 lessly down town, sick and weary with the hope- 
 less search, and found himself, he knew not how, 
 among a number of low beer-gardens where music 
 is prostituted to lure the reluctant drinker. He 
 passed several without thinking much about them, 
 and then came to one more flashy and disrepu- 
 table than the rest. There was a great crowd 
 about the door; and, hearing a sound of ap- 
 plause, he went in to see what was going on. 
 There was a long bar just inside the door, and at 
 the upper end sat a fat and beery German, who 
 seemed the chief bar-tender, talking with the 
 agent, Sill. Beyond, over the heads of the crowd, 
 could be seen the stage at the upper end of the 
 music-hall. 
 
 Sill's back was turned to the door ; and he did 
 not see Sebastian, who came up to the bar and 
 stood close behind him. He ordered something 
 to drink, hoping to gain time to hear what the 
 man might be saying. 
 
 "Tell you what, Somers, you can have the gal 
 every night, from eight till one, with four songs
 
 140 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 for fifteen dollars a night, paid to me in cash." 
 
 "Fifteen dollar! Vat you say? Fifteen dol- 
 lar!" 
 
 "Of course, man. Ain't she filling your place 
 every night? You never had no such card be- 
 fore." 
 
 "Vat surity you gife me, Mr. Sill? Bimeby, 
 the girl come not at all. How you make her 
 come when she have a coldt ? Dese young girls 
 alvays has a coldt, ven dey sees dey is in de- 
 mand." 
 
 " Never you mind that. I have a hold on the 
 
 gal, and she will come every night, sure thing." 
 
 " Den I makes it a drade, but, if the girl fail 
 
 to come one time, you shall pay me one hundred 
 
 dollar." 
 
 Just here the man turned and observed Sebas- 
 tian. 
 
 " Hullo, Strove ! What you doing here ? " 
 " Oh ! I merely wandered in out of curiosity." 
 "What you taking? Soda! Lemonade! Blue 
 Moses ! That's not the stuff for you. Come to
 
 Z&GELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 141 
 
 a table, and I'll stand treat. I want to talk to 
 you, I do." 
 
 Thinking he might in some way learn some- 
 thing of Zegelda, he paid for the lemonade and 
 left it untouched, and followed the agent through 
 the crowd in the music-hall to a table. A waiter 
 came at the call of Sill, took an order and a sly 
 wink, and departed. Sill then began to be volu- 
 ble over Sebastian's new choir and position, say- 
 ing it was the talk of the town, and proposing 
 a scheme whereby an honest penny might be 
 turned out of the choir. 
 
 " Cornish, my boy ! Cornish ! That's what 
 you should have out of that thing. You should 
 make every singer pay comish for the place." 
 
 The servant here brought glasses and liquor 
 that seemed to be wine and was something else. 
 Sebastian could not refuse to drink with the fel- 
 low, as he hoped to gain some information from 
 him, and he swallowed a little of the stuff. It 
 was hot and bitter, and he drank as little as 
 p.):->sible. Just then there was a noisy sound of
 
 j^ ZEGELDA 
 
 applause, and he stood up to see what was 
 going on. 
 
 " Oh, sit down ! Sit down ! Never mind that 
 rubbish, it's nothing particular." 
 
 The wretched band began to play, and the 
 laughter and noise died away. Suddenly there 
 came a voice, a woman's voice, sweet, pure, 
 and wonderful, filling the place as with light. 
 Sill had risen also, and stood before Sebastian 
 as if to detain him ; but he broke away, and 
 dashed through the crowd toward the stage, over- 
 turning a waiter and his tray of beer on the way. 
 In a moment, he was in the clear space before 
 the stage. The air, thick and blue with tobacco 
 smoke, seemed to stifle him, and he felt faint and 
 dizzy. He guessed at once, and rightly, that 
 the stuff he had drank had been drugged ; and 
 he brought all the power of his will upon himself 
 to master its effects. Fortunately, he had lived 
 
 
 
 a pure and temperate life, and was strong and 
 well. At a bound, he was upon the stage by the 
 singer's side.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA. VI EF. j ., 
 
 "Zegelda! Zegelda ! " 
 
 At once there was a howl of rage, and loud 
 cries on every side : " Put him out ! Pull him 
 clown ! " A fat and beery brute sprung out from 
 the side of the stage, and tried to push him off. 
 
 " Stand back ! " he cried. " Stand back, or I 
 will kill you ! She is my sister." 
 
 In an instant, the music stopped, and there 
 was an awful hush. The audience of half a 
 thousand men and boys seemed to find them- 
 selves spectators of a tragedy. 
 
 "Kick him out! Kick him out!" cried Sill 
 from the crowd. 
 
 "If you touch me, there will be murder," said 
 the young man, turning a white and desperate 
 face upon the crowd. " She is my sister ! I lost 
 her." 
 
 It seemed as if the vast throng had been sud- 
 denly changed from beasts to men, for there rose 
 a roar of approval. Zegelda had paused in her 
 song, and stood for a moment irresolute. Then 
 she came to Sebastian, and said so that all might 
 hear,
 
 I At x ZEGELDA ROMANIES. 
 
 "Take me home!" 
 
 This was followed by another roar of applause. 
 It was as good as a play. They were bound to 
 see it out, and with rough and ready humor bid 
 the man on the stage retire. Then they made 
 a lane down the middle of the room. Some one 
 cried out, 
 
 "Take the gal home, sonny. You're a good 
 un!" 
 
 They stepped down from the stage, and passed 
 up the lane between a swaying, tumultuous crowd 
 of men, while the air was rent with shouts and 
 screams of laughter and applause. They passed 
 on toward the bar-room; but the people made 
 way for them, though there were ill-suppressed 
 murmurs on every side. At the door, with his 
 back to the great window, stood Sill, with his 
 hand behind him as if ready to draw a revolver. 
 His face was black with rage and hate. It was 
 clear he meant mischief. Sebastian glanced back 
 toward the bar, and saw a man lift a heavy stone 
 bottle to hurl it after him. He sprung aside, and
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN IEF. j .- 
 
 the missile struck Sill full in the face, and he fell 
 backward, with a fearful crash, through the win- 
 dow, and dropped into the street, covered with 
 blood. At the instant, a policeman appeared 
 upon the walk. 
 
 "Look lively, young fellow!" cried the officer 
 to Sebastian. "Get out of this. There's going 
 to be a bad row here."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SEBASTIAN found a carriage as quickly as pos- 
 sible, and put Zegelda in it ; for she was dressed 
 in some fancy costume, with a silken cap upon 
 her head. He bid the driver take them as quickly 
 as possible to his home, and then entered the 
 carriage with Zegelda. Hardly was he seated by 
 her side, when the close air and the motion of 
 the carriage, combined with the excitement he 
 had gone through, and perhaps the lingering 
 effects of the drugged liquor, caused hire, to faint. 
 The girl was terribly frightened at this, and imag- 
 ined he was hurt, and tried with all the skill 
 she had to revive him, and at the same time 
 covering him with passionate caresses, and appeal- 
 ing to him to revive for her sake. When the
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. j 47 
 
 carriage stopped, she was obliged to call a police- 
 man to assist her to take him to his rooms. 
 At the door stood his mother, surprised, alarmed, 
 and perplexed at the sight of this strange girl 
 in such unseemly dress, bringing up, aided by 
 the janitor and the officer, her son, pale and 
 perhaps lifeless. She led the way in silence 
 to Sebastian's room, and then she turned to 
 the officer for explanations. He could tell her 
 nothing, and went away. The driver was im- 
 portunate for his pay ; and, in paying him and in 
 sending the too inquisitive janitor for a doctor, 
 she forgot the girl. She closed the outer door, 
 and returned to the chamber. There stood the 
 girl, bending over Sebastian and bathing his fore- 
 head in water. Who was the creature ? What 
 had she to do with her son ? What terrible and 
 shameful disclosure was at hand ? She saw a 
 girl in most unwomanly dress, tending upon her 
 boy; and she was rilled with anger and dismay. 
 " Who are you, Miss ? What do you wish 
 with my son ? "
 
 148 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 " I am his friend," said she, without looking 
 up. " Or, rather, he is mine. God bless him ! 
 He saved me at the risk of his life from worse 
 than death." 
 
 " What right have you in his room ? How 
 came he to this ? What right have you to call 
 him your friend ? " 
 
 "The best right. I love him." 
 
 With that, she turned and faced his mother, 
 and pulled off the silken cap on her head. The 
 woman stood as one frozen with amazement and 
 alarm. She could not speak, but stood gazing 
 at the girl with eyes in which tears vainly tried 
 to well forth. 
 
 " Get me some ice water," said Zegelda. " I 
 fear he has been drugged." 
 
 The woman did not move, but stood gazing 
 at her earnestly ; and the girl again turned to 
 Sebastian, and bathed his face in silence. 
 
 " O my child ! Do you not know me ? I 
 am your mother." 
 
 The girl looked at her for an instant in won- 
 der, and then said slowly,
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 149 
 
 " I don't know what you mean. I only know 
 he saved me from that horrible garden, and I 
 mean to stay here and help him. I will never 
 leave him again as long as I live, unless he 
 bids me. Now bring me the ice water." 
 
 " I am his mother, girl." 
 
 " Oh ! " 
 
 Fortunately, the doctor arrived just then ; and, 
 in his presence, nothing more was said or done, 
 except to minister to Sebastian's wants. The 
 physician was evidently surprised to see Zegelda 
 in such strange disguise, but he wisely said noth- 
 ing. He calmed Mrs. Strove's fears concerning 
 Sebastian, left a prescription for him, and went 
 away, saying that the young man was not hurt 
 and would revive presently. In fact, he did 
 revive just after the doctor had. gone, and sat 
 up upon the bed, gazing in bewilderment upon 
 the two women. 
 
 " What has happened, mother ? " 
 
 " I do not know, my son. You were brought 
 here senseless in a carriage by this young per- 
 son."
 
 150 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIES. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I remember. If I had not dodged 
 that bottle, I might have paid for my adventure 
 with my life." 
 
 With that, he rose from the bed and walked 
 into the next room. Zegelda followed him closely, 
 and even came to his side and put her ams 
 about him. 
 
 " How can I ever thank you ? You saved me 
 from that man. You will forgive me, will you 
 not ? " 
 
 "Forgive you! For what?" 
 
 "For leaving you, when you lost your place in 
 the church. I was afraid I was a burden to 
 you." 
 
 " Sebastian," said Mrs. Strove, with some 
 severity, " who is this person ? " 
 
 "Pardon me, both of you. Zegelda, this is my 
 mother." 
 
 Then he stopped, and stood silent and irres- 
 olute before them. How could he say more, 
 how tell the child the claim his mother made 
 on her, how explain to his mother his rela-
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA XI EF. jr j 
 
 tion to this strange, strange creature, in such un- 
 womanly dress ? He thus stood, revolving these 
 things quickly in his mind, when he felt a soft 
 arm, warm and beautiful, steal in his. Her soft 
 presence close to his side, her deep and burning 
 eyes bent on his, filled every vein in his being 
 with passionate love. She seemed to divine some 
 impending disaster, for he saw her bosom rise in 
 stormy agitation. Yet he must tell her of his 
 mother's conjecture and claim. 
 
 "Zegelda, this is my mother. She was once 
 your father's wife, and we think she is your 
 mother also." 
 
 She started away from him, with blazing eyes. 
 " It is false. My mother is dead ! " 
 
 " Dead ! " 
 
 " Yes. She died a week ago, in a miserable 
 tenament down town. She starved to death. I 
 might have followed her, had not MacCurry found 
 us. He gave me food and this dress, and paid 
 for my mother's funeral." 
 
 " MacCurry ! Who is he ? "
 
 152 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 " The man you call Sill." 
 
 '* My child," said Mrs. Strove, taking Zegelda's 
 hand, "you have your father's face and name. 
 I feel sure my child lives, and that you are 
 my little Mary." 
 
 "But my name is Zegelda. I was never called 
 anything else." 
 
 "You were very young when I lost you. You 
 may not remember. Yet my heart tells me you 
 are my child." 
 
 "I do not believe it." 
 
 " Can you not prove your parentage, Zegelda ? " 
 said Sebastian. " Have you no papers, no doc- 
 uments of any kind." 
 
 " Documents ! I don't know what you mean. 
 O Sebastian, it can't be true. It cannot be true." 
 
 She came nearer to him, and seemed to cling 
 to him for help and protection. 
 
 " My child," said Mrs. Strove, " I feel sure I 
 am right. Sebastian is your brother." 
 
 " He, my brother, my brother ! Oh, no, no, 
 madam ! That cannot be, for I love him."
 
 ZEGEL DA ROMA NIEF. 
 
 153 
 
 "Zegelda! You love me ?*' 
 
 "Love you! How could I help it?" she 
 cried in innocent and girlish frankness. " You 
 were the first who ever spoke a kind word to 
 me. You saved me from that man. Of course, 
 I love you." 
 
 "Sebastian," said Mrs. Strove, gravely, "your 
 sister excites herself unnecessarily. Bid her calm 
 
 herself, and behave with more propiiety." 
 
 ******** 
 
 The next morning, Sebastian lodged a complaint 
 with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
 to Children against Sill, and before night he was 
 under arrest. An examination soon after, before 
 a police magistrate, disclosed the fact that he 
 had a contract, signed by Zegelda's father two 
 years before, and giving her services to Sill as a 
 concert singer for a term of three years. Six 
 months of this contract had been served by her 
 at the time the concert company broke up that 
 winter's night, in the little town up the river, 
 lie had found her just as her mother died, and
 
 154 
 
 Z EG ELD A ROMANIEP. 
 
 by threats had forced her to carry out the con- 
 tract, and sing for him in the beer-garden. 
 Alone by her dead mother's bed, almost starv- 
 ing for food, without friends or help, she had 
 consented to sing for the man, well knowing 
 he had no rights over her, and yet unable to 
 resist his demands. The fact that the contract 
 placed the girl in practical slavery to him, the 
 fact that he had never paid either her or her 
 father a cent under the contract, made it void 
 long ago ; but what could she do ? Her position 
 was not without example. Such things have been 
 done before, and all the public sees is the 
 face of a child musician smiling in a tragedy 
 upon the concert stage. Nothing could be done 
 with the wretch, except to take away the contract 
 and wring from him a confession of what he 
 knew of Zegelda's life previous to the breaking 
 up of that wandering concert company.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Through darkness riseth light. ELIJAH. 
 
 ALL things were now ready, the choir thor- 
 oughly drilled, the alterations in the church com- 
 pleted, and the organ finished. It was the Sat- 
 urday night before the first appearance of the 
 choir, and Sebastian had gone down to the 
 church early in the evening to see that all was 
 ready for the final rehearsal. The janitor ad- 
 mitted him into the church, and he went upstairs 
 to the organ-loft and lit one- gas-jet over the 
 desk. It was a curious scene. The church 
 seemed like a vaulted cave, dim, strange, and vast. 
 On either side of the great window that seemed 
 to glow with subdued fire in the light of the 
 moon, stood the painted pipes of the double
 
 i S 6 
 
 ZEGELDA RO.VfA.VtEF. 
 
 organ. Beneath the window were the seats of the 
 choir, rising tier on tier from the front of the 
 gallery. The organ-desk stood in the centre 
 near the front. Directly* behind it was a grand 
 piano, and beside it a harp covered with a hood 
 of canvas. 
 
 The young man paused in thought before the 
 scene. Here was the realization of all his dreams. 
 His chance had come, his new life and work 
 would now begin. The day was at hand, and 
 through all the darkness of his life there was 
 about to rise the light of love and joy. He had 
 hoped Zegelda would come with him to the church 
 before the rehearsal. He had much to tell her. 
 She had gone out during the afternoon, and he 
 had therefore come alone. 
 
 He opened the organ-desk, set the hydraulic 
 engine in motion, and sat down before the keys. 
 He would play, alone in the church, a solemn 
 psalm for all the mercies that had blessed his 
 life. 
 
 "Let us first see what we have here," he said
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF, 
 
 157 
 
 aloud, as he began to draw the stops. "An open 
 diapason of sixteen foot tone (large scale), a 
 second diapason, a doppel flute, a gamba, and 
 trumpet, each of eight foot tone. Then a flute 
 harmonic, an octave, and clarion, each of four 
 foot tone. Twelfth, fifteenth, and three rank 
 mixture. So much for the great organ, simple 
 and yet strong, just the thing for such a choir. 
 Now, for the swell organ," he continued, read- 
 ing off the stops as he drew them out. " Open 
 diapason, stopped diapason, viola, oboe, corno- 
 pean, flato traverse, violina, and a sixteen foot 
 bordone. Enough for all the variety needed, 
 and well suited to the wants of the accompanist. 
 Pedal-stops, open diapason (very large scale), 
 bordone, and trombone, each of sixteen foot tone, 
 and a violoncello of eight foot. Last of all, on 
 the swell manual, a tuba mirabilis, really a mar- 
 vellous trumpet, fit to lead an entire congrega- 
 tion." 
 
 The organ is worthy of study. It was designed 
 with care, to serve the purposes of this particular
 
 I rg- ZEGELDA ROMANIES. 
 
 church and choir. It was a comparatively inex- 
 pensive instrument, costing only $5,600, $5,000 for 
 the instrument and 600 for the reversed action 
 brought to the front of the gallery. It will be 
 seen that it is not a " show " organ, for the dis- 
 playing of nimble fingers and the player's vanity 
 or the tickling of congregational ears. It was a 
 chorus organ, with just variety enough to furnish 
 a background for the solo voices ; very rich in 
 diapasons and basses, and as a whole of dignified 
 and church-like tone. 
 
 Having drawn every stop, the young man pre- 
 pared to play alone in the church a psalm of 
 praise for all the mercies that seemed about to 
 crown his life. At the instant, he heard a moan. 
 It seemed to come out of the darkness of the 
 church. He stood up, and looked over the rail- 
 ing into the great, black cave below. There was 
 nothing, save blackness and darkness. Again he 
 heard it, plainer than before. It seemed to freeze 
 his heart with vague horror and alarm. He cried 
 out, and asked who was there. There was no
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 159 
 
 answer, save a rustling sound, as if some one 
 stirred in the darkness. He tore a leaf out of 
 a music-book, twisted it into a taper, and, light- 
 ing it at the gas, went down the stairs and en- 
 tered the church. 
 
 "Who is there?" 
 
 Not a sound in reply. 
 
 " Any one hurt ? Any one here ? " 
 
 His voice seemed lost in the darkness. There 
 was not even an echo. The paper torch was 
 fast burning av/ay, and he went hastily up the 
 main aisle toward the pulpit. 
 
 " Zegelda ! " 
 
 The flickering light fell upon a girlish form, 
 resting at full length, and apparently in helpless 
 misery, upon the pulpit steps. He dropped the 
 dying torch, and in the darkness, just touched 
 by the distant Tamp in the organ-loft, lifted her 
 up and stood supporting her by the door of the 
 first pew. 
 
 "How came you here? What is the matter?" 
 
 For a moment, she could not speak for sob- 
 bing. At last, she managed to say,
 
 i6o 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 "The janitor let me in more than an hour 
 ago. I heard you come in. I was afraid you 
 would begin to play, and I could not bear 
 it. O Sebastian ! Is it true is it all true as 
 people say ? " 
 
 "Is what true?" 
 
 "That that God lives here. It seems so still, 
 
 so still and cold. I thought he must have for- 
 gotten me, and I came here to remind him 
 
 of it all." 
 
 " Child, he never forgets. Come, sit down, 
 and maybe I can tell you how he works for us." 
 
 She seemed 'to be soothed by his presence, 
 and sat down beside him in the pew. 
 
 " Now listen, and see if I be right. This 
 man, Sill, has confessed he stole all the money 
 earned on that concert trip, when he abandoned 
 your father and mother. He said your mother's 
 trunk was left at the hotel at the little river 
 town. I sent for it; paid the bill with interest, 
 and this afternoon it came, and I broke it open. 
 I wanted you to open it, but you were not at
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIES, 
 
 161 
 
 home, and I couldn't wait. In it, I found your 
 mother's certificate of marriage to your father, 
 and indorsed on the back with the date of your 
 birth. Why, my child, you're only seventeen." 
 
 She said nothing for a moment, but he could 
 hear her breath come and go quickly. 
 
 " Then I am not your sister at all ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 Suddenly, she slipped away from him out into 
 the aisle ; and clinging to the pulpit-railing, half- 
 kneeling upon the stairs, she gave way to pas- 
 sionate tears. 
 
 " Oh, you will despise me ! You will hate me," 
 
 "Why should I?" cried he, coming nearer to 
 her. 
 
 " Can't you see ? My father had no right 
 Oh ! how can I say it how can I say it ? " 
 
 "Zegelda, I do not care. Shall the sins of 
 the father be laid upon the innocent shoulders 
 of the children. No. God will judge between 
 us with mercy." 
 
 " And you do not care at all you will al- 
 ways "
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 " I will love you all the same now and always." 
 
 For a moment, they two stood in silence in 
 that place. Then she said sadly, 
 
 " Poor lost little one ! It must have died. 
 What will your mother say? She loves me al- 
 ready." 
 
 " And so she always will as her daughter." 
 
 She moved away from him, and seemed to peer 
 up into the dim arches faintly outlined overhead. 
 One of the white angels with outstretched hands, 
 in the dimness above them, seemed to glow with 
 light, and its face seemed to look down upon 
 them with a calm, sweet smile. Her vivid imag- 
 ination made it all alive. 
 
 She pointed up at it, and said, 
 " You are right. He lives here." 
 
 Then she turned and looked up at the organ. 
 
 " Come ! There is my place. There is music, 
 the only language that can tell all that is in 
 my heart. Come, let us go up there." 
 
 They went hand in hand up the dim aisle and 
 dark stairs, and came to the new choir-loft.
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN! EF. 
 
 163 
 
 " How beautiful it all js ! Sit down and play 
 for me. My heart is full, and I must sing." 
 ******** 
 
 The morning bells called the people to church. 
 The moment the doors of St. Clement's were 
 opened, a multitude poured into the place. In 
 half an hour, every seat was filled; and still they 
 came in throngs, blocking the corridors and fill- 
 ing the aisles in dense masses. When the min- 
 ister came into the pulpit, he wondered greatly 
 at the great congregation that had assembled. 
 At first, he was disturbed. These were vain peo- 
 ple, come with worldly curiosity to hear the new 
 choir. Then he came to a wiser conclusion. He 
 would have many listeners, and he must do his 
 
 best. 
 
 
 
 In the new organ-loft, the choir had already 
 assembled, and sat in solid rows clear back to 
 the wall ; the adult choir in the centre, the la- 
 dies in front, the male choir on the right, and 
 the girl choir on the left, with the organist, the 
 harpist, and pianist near the centre. In the front
 
 164 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMA .VI EF. 
 
 were the soloists, seven people, with one seat 
 still vacant. There was an ill-suppressed buzz of 
 excitement over all. Many were shocked at the 
 sight of the piano-forte, others were positively 
 indignant, all of which proves they were a trifle 
 ignorant. A carriage drove up to the door, and 
 Miss Tabatha Brown, anxious and troubled, 
 stepped out. They made way for her in re- 
 spectful silence, and she entered the church 
 and spoke to the sexton. 
 
 "Yes, Miss. Mr. Strove has come. Here he 
 is now." 
 
 " Oh ! I'm very glad 'you have come. I am 
 very anxious about the soprano. None of the 
 people you have tried will do. I could hardly 
 rest last night, thinking all might be lost for 
 want of one voice." 
 
 " Have no fear, madam. I have found the 
 soprano. Leave it all to me." 
 
 Already the organ began to peal through the 
 church. 
 
 " I must, it seems. But, if she fails, I shall 
 be greatly disappointed."
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 I6 S 
 
 " Have no fear. She will not fail." 
 
 There was a slight stir in the choir, and every 
 head was turned to see who came. It was the 
 director. With him came a girl, young, surpass- 
 ingly beautiful, and with that divine light in her 
 eyes that comes of love and happiness. This 
 was his choir, she would be his soprano. She 
 felt she had the voice, and that now, at last, 
 it had found a worthy audience and a worthy 
 theme. He led her to the vacant seat in front. 
 The choir was complete. 
 
 Guided by some unseen signal, the choir rose and 
 stood expectant, manuscripts in hand. The organ 
 music seemed to shine and grow luminous and 
 glistening. Few knew it was the added piano- 
 forte. 
 
 The anthem was to begin. Miss Tabatha 
 Brown's ideas were to be made alive, that all 
 men see and understand. Suddenly, from the 
 mazy measures broke forth a sweet and tender 
 strain of girlish voices in close and intricate har- 
 mony, Oh, come, let us sing, sing before the
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 Lord! Then from all the men in four parts 
 there rolled a slow and stately psalm, For his 
 mercies are upon all that fear him. It seemed 
 to kindle the choir to life; and over the slowly 
 measured psalm there ran, like liquid fire, a brill- 
 iant treble or obligate melody by the boy so- 
 pranos, Awake, my sou/, and learn to sing his 
 praise. It then resolved into a quartet between 
 the tenors and basses, the boy altos and girl so- 
 pranos repeating all the words in new music 
 and in a new tone color. 
 
 Then the first basses took up a new strain, 
 My soul had fainted for the Lord, and the adult 
 altos answered back, But he is ever nigh. His 
 mercies are always near : they compass all his people 
 like as the mountains stand round about Jerusalem. 
 This was a trio of most unique and pleasing 
 character between the tenors, the boy altos, and 
 all the girls combined on the melody. 
 
 Here was a true orchestration, a real and 
 proper treatment of the resources of the human 
 voice. The people were hushed and surprised
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 167 
 
 beyond measure; and, when the voices stopped 
 and the organ went on alone, there was a marked 
 sensation of pleasure and satisfaction over all 
 the house. The harp joined the organ in plain- 
 tive measures, and then the piano joined as if in 
 a prelude. There was an almost painful silence 
 over choir and people. A single stop on the 
 organ seemed to take up a new melody. Was 
 it the organ? 
 
 / cried to him out of the depth. He heard my 
 complaint. Therefore will / praise his holy name 
 forever. 
 
 Above the deep silence of the place rose a 
 new voice, a soprano unspoiled by "methods," 
 rich, sweet, pure, and womanly. It seemed a 
 soul with lips of fire. It caught up all hearts 
 and chained every ear, because of its beauty 
 and because it spoke the singer's heart. Then 
 awoke the full-toned choir in answering strains. 
 Once more the single voice alone, here and there 
 touched and brightened by adding all the boy 
 sopranos or all the girl sopranos upon a single
 
 ZEGELDA ROMAN I EF. 
 
 word or line, a gilding of the solo by added 
 voices in the same notes, yet was it so skil- 
 fully done that the solo voice was always heard, 
 just as a beautiful form in plastic art may be 
 decked with color without losing its charm of 
 shape and outline. Still the anthem went on, 
 till every voice joined in the full harmony; and 
 yet that one soprano dominated all, was heard 
 above all, singing its hymn of joy and grati- 
 tude. 
 
 Psalm and hymn and chant followed in due 
 order, each a new source of wonder and surprise. 
 The minister, having for the first time in his life 
 a really great congregation, preached as he had 
 never preached before. The reason was plain. 
 He had the inspiration of a people pleased and 
 satisfied with themselves, their church, and music. 
 
 To describe in detail the music given by this 
 remarkable choir would fill a book. Enough has 
 been shown to illustrate what it could do. The 
 principle upon which it had been founded was 
 proved to be correct. Its first performance
 
 ZEGELDA ROhfAtVIEF. 
 
 169 
 
 stamped it a success. The very people who had 
 opposed it and predicted failure were the loudest 
 in its praise. The unselfish , woman who had 
 spent her money to try the experiment was the 
 respected and admired of- all. Her chief satis- 
 faction seemed to be in playfully informing her 
 friends that, "if she was crazy, it was a very 
 delightful kind of craze." Her plans were 
 prov.ed practicable. Her director had made them 
 a success. The church had now the advantage 
 of the severe and solemn music sometimes used 
 in the Episcopal service where boy choirs are 
 used ; it had all the richness and splendor of 
 the Catholic music; it could use the stately 
 chorals of the Lutheran Church, and still have 
 the artistic effects of the quartet. 
 
 One in that great congregation, that morning, 
 sat through it all, sad and yet serenely happy. 
 She had lived to see her son's triumph ; and, 
 though her heart was heavy at the thought of 
 the little one lost so long ago, yet it already 
 leaned upon a new love and a new daughter.
 
 I/O 
 
 ZEGELDA ROMANIEF. 
 
 The vocal orchestra maintained by Miss Tab- 
 atha Brown at St. Clement's was kept up for a 
 year; and every contract was fulfilled, though it 
 cost over twenty thousand dollars. At the end of 
 the year, a change was made. The choir became 
 a volunteer organization, and none were paid 
 except four soloists, the director, and the three 
 accompanists ; and thus the expense was re- 
 duced to a comparatively small sum. So great 
 was the demand for admission to the choir 
 that it was easily kept full. To graduate from 
 St. Clement's was a pass into any choir in the 
 country. And so it was the choir entered upon 
 a second mission in music, and became a great 
 school of art.
 
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