The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, 4 January 1912, Page 3

The Storyteller

.. ~ THE ORGAN BUILDER ".-•' The little organ-builder -went to ■ and fro about, hia work, 1: intent upon it only,' for lie loved" it. :He loved - :■■":■■■ also the opportunity it gave him to see various parts of the country of his adoption, to which he had come r_ from Holland, his native land, fifteen /years before.. :He was a dreamer;- and had always been one, from the time when, a ch.ild, he had played with pretty Pritzie Bauer and quiet Katze Martens, who were cousins to: . each other and neighbors of his own in the ancient ~ i Dutch town where Michel's father built organs .and: played upon them so well that his skill ; was known - throughout the land, even to Amsterdam. Until he was fourteen and the girls twelve, Michel and Katze, had been inseparable comrades, with mischievous Fritzie hovering on the outer-edge '■■ of their companionship, her teasing ways and merry laugh adding to the: triune friendship a vivacity which 'it ;- would otherwise have lacked. ' But by degrees the: bright eyes and coquettish manners of Fritzie began to work havoc in Michel's young heart, and Katze gradually fell into second place, which, apparently she was content to take, satis- .. fied to be the least where she had long been the first. Besides, marriage had long been planned by their elders between Fritzie and Michel, which arrangement now : seemed exactly in accord with the wishes -of the . two most concerned, for the"^father of Fritzie had money, while Katze was an orphan, living upon his bounty. All went well until the arrival of a regiment of " hussars in the town. Very- soon after their sojourn' ''■ began Fritzie's pretty head seemed like to fall from her: shoulders with vanity at the compliments they paid her, and Michel, jealous and .despondent, was :forced to look upon her coquetries and endure her indifference till his brain whirled with indignation and disappointment and his-heart was ralmost.broken. . In these terrible moments Katze became his consoler, listening patiently and sympathetically to his complaints, while she'* endeavored to excuse Fritzie's conduct, which, she tried to convince him, would once more become normal when v "the regiment had departed. _ One morning the village woke up to find her gone with a handsome corporal, whose term of enlistment had just expired. -She? had left a heartless - note for her sorrowing mother and father: 'I have' gone. with ' | 'Hans-Erstrofen/ it read. We will be married in ' Amsterdam and sail from there to America, where he ':: has an uncle who will make him rich some day. Tell : Michel to marry Katze> She loves him and will be - . better for a wife than, Fritzie. They ' are both so "slow : they will be well" content together.' ' „ So deeply did this cruel desertion affect Michel that he became very ill; people thought he was going " into / a decline. But after a time he recovered his health, and subsequently his spirits, again devoting his \ mind to his organ-playing and organ-building, though it was well understood and entirely approved of by the village that in his heart there lingered a tender, unalterable regret for the faithless' Fritzie; That heart- ' * less personage wrote but once from America to her parents and was heard of no more. As the pangs of unrequited love and desertion grew less poignant, the s sweet, mild face and. gentle, voice of Katze began to appeal to the lonely heart of Michel. Three years after y Fritzie's departure they were married, but under £no " : false pretences from the honest though stricken Michel. -' It is not such, a love as I have felt for Fritzie ' ■;.'■ .. he said to her. ..' - No one knows, better than you, Katze; %M ; no one as well, that half of my heart went with her! But once in a lifetime does a man love as, I " loved : -Fritzie— many : a -man: I believe no such -love ever comes. : C.l mourn for her. no longer, but there will always remain with me * a memory of her which I cannot ; banish if "I; would, but which is as blameless as any memory can be. I should feel no shame if it were known to Fritzie herself, nor the man for whom she left

me,-nor, least of all, to you—my Katze, who understand me so thoroughly, and her also. Will you take me, then,_as it stands?' • • Of course Katze took him and never regretted it; she made him an excellent wife, being far more practical than he who dwelt a good deal in the clouds. After some years they emigrated to America, where Michel had -j been ?■ advised. to come by a cousin in the organ business., They had prospered and were happy. There were no -children, and as the years passed Katze generally accompanied 'her husband to the : . various places where he was commissioned by his employers to set. up' the instruments they constructed.- - So it;was.that business took them to a city in the far West where, ~ for six weeks, Michel was - engaged in building a very fine organ. Next to his Katze he loved 'the instruments, the different,^parts of which he could so skilfully gather -into, a harmonious whole, upon : whose keys -his fingers struck the ;■ first■■-: reverberating notes that told the listeners his delicate and agreeable task was completed. People ? had been coming and going all day/ but as twilight descended ; Michel; sat alone in the loft play;ing; the organ. Katze was below in: one of the pews— '■■ ilistening/drinking in the melody she loved, her heart ' filled with ,; thankfulness that all" had - gone well,- and with pride- for the husband she - adored. - At last he : closed; 1 the ■ organ and descended the steep, narrow stair-; way into the vestibule. ,-* . At the door he heard voices; - one that of his gentle-little wife, the other coarse and 1; strident, unbefitting, he thought, the sanctity of the Lord's house. Peering, with nearsighted eyes ; into the; semi-darkness, he perceived Katze, , her hand in that of an enormously stout woman who -. turned as he came forward, saluting him with a violent slap on the -shoulder/ 'Ha! So it is !' she cried. ' The very same Michel thin and undersized as ever, with his hair still long . and his eyes still /blinking. - : Don't you know me, Michel ? Say, don't you tell me you have forgotten Fritzie ?' -■'-./ The little organ-builder, shrank back; he had received an inward blow more severe than' the one his : - former sweetheart had inflicted upon his shoulder ; with '. her great) hard hand: " «I"'Fritzie!' he murmured incredulously. 'How you have changed!' C \"': - 'Yes, of course,' was the reply. - ' I have lived well, and had no troublesr—no children to bother me—no man to boss me these many years. I have plenty ■'to/eat and drink, good clothes, and a good house. I can go where I please and do as I please. Why shouldn't : ■0 look well and/handsome ? J But you two! You- are as" old-fashioned as if you had ;.;'just/come from Deutsche . land. And how funny, how funny, that I should meet ■*" you here! . So you were the little • old man I got a glimpse of the other day when I came to a friend's funeral? I tell you, I don't often trouble the church, but that day I lost t my : fine lace-trimmed handkerchief, and I came in just, now to see if maybe I didn't drop ? it under the kneeling-bench. But no, it wasn't there. And if .it.hadn't .been for that we shouldn't have seen ' one another!' r ;. v Katze opened her mouth to speak, but that was not on Fritzie's programme. .. / . /'"':". V 'Don't you see how. good, it has been with me, both of r you ?' she resumed complacently. ' I am dressed like this every day, ; always going somewhere - and having - I company at my home. And you look yet like you just come from the old country, -But, Katze, you didn't never have no style, and, Michel, you was always a-dreamin' • and gropin'; thinkin' : only of music, and never of your looks. Good. it was that I left you to ; Katze—you .was just made for one^another—so quiet: and homely.? . - ■ n - This time the organ-builder made an effort to speak, but Fritzie, paid no attention. 'I just fell into good luck right away,' she proceeded. ■ ' We come out here, and my husband he didn't live so very long; he got killed by a house fallin' on him. when he was passin' by. Just smashed to little pieces-you couldn't have reco'nised him. And then the uncle, he wanted to marry me : straight off. .1 thought it was better—he was awfully well-off an' a

widower. But the priest made trouble an' talked about getting" a dispensation or somethin' like that, anksvi -Wilhelm he got mad an' we just went an' was married *-, by the squire. An', poor fellow,, he didn't last long, neither. He got an accident, too—-fell into the brewery - : vat in his own brewery! So I was left with .the. gold./ : ; I could have been married plenty times I can get a husband any day yet if I want one, but I like better to be my own boss. Well, what you think of it?' -• I suppose we ought "to consider you fortunate,' . said Michel. •. 'How precise you talk, Michel, an' Katze, too I noticed it. I suppose you don't go about much, . neither of you?' : '-We have been nearly, all over the United States/ y /rejoined Michel, with .dignity. My business calls .me ; ;: everywhere, and Katze nearly always comes .with, me.' Oh, yes— what is that to enjoy life-r-organ- 5 building? How long are you going to be here vet?' 'Till next Tuesday.' 'Only till then? An' this is Saturday. Well- - where are you staying ?' " _ -- -. . .. : 'We have- a little cottage not far away,' said ~ Katze, at" No. 12 Florida street.' " 'You're housekeeping then?' ■" ■ Yes, we like that best.' . 'You. was always a good cook, Katze. I don't - never touch my fingers to the- stove,' said the brewer's-* ~ widow. ■. 'l.have a" good Jap—you remember, I always fj&\ did hate to workdon't you, Katze?' '' " ' - 'Yes,' said Katze, 'I remember very well.' i: if our lodge don't have all-day picnics" ; at Stadler's ■-''* Grove. Some wants it all day an' some just in the "' afternoon. I'd ask you to come home with me.to dinner, but I'm engaged to go to the "Merry Widow" tonight, - chaperonin' some girls an' their fellers. -You wouldn't " enjoy it.' ", ' '-."-." 'I am sure we would not,' said Michel, coldly, -i? beginning to move away. -.■■■■:-;■.■■-- - . ... ' Well, good-bye, 3 good-bye. Glad I met you. Wasn't it queer? Hope I'll see you again. If I don't - put it down to my bavin' lots o' things to do.' Then spoke up the little builder, the dreamer. 3';::: '-/ v/ We shall not be at home on Monday, Fritzie, and V Tuesday morning . early we start. W will say good- -'■: bye. We are glad to hear of your 'good luck.' -'*/.. 'All rightgood-byegood-bye,' replied Fritzie cheerfully, as she waddled away: - ' : ; : -.'J ,:s": ■'■ . Katze .and her husband walked slowly homeward • without exchanging a word. Michel had his hands clasped behind him, a habit of his when in perplexed or thoughtful mood, and Katze, ever considerate, did not ; disturb him. . Quiet and phlegmatic as she seemed, the organ-builder's .wife was more observant than people ; . /thought; Intuitively, through all the years of her peaceful married life, she had known that, without doing her the least injustice, the- image of .the fair and •mischievous Fritzie had never passed from her bus-- ■'' band's thoughts. . /:-'■ _.. Silently they pursued their way, the organ-builder-v.-reflecting on .the past, the glamor of which was -now ': ■ scattered forever. Where was . the Fritzie. of his - life- " long dream /. .',; ":. ./;.",.' " J .^.§| .. ■ They had entered their own little cottage, Katze ; :was about to turn on the electric light when Michel laid % his hand upon her arm.

' Katze,' he said— well she knew by the tremor ' of. his voice how deeply his heart was —-' Katze, ■ my own girl, you are the best wife any man ever had : in all the world. And '—he hesitated, swallowed painfully and went on—' I may not have known it as I should, dearest——l know it now.' ' '-. And Katze murmured, shy as a young girl in the darkness, while her hand;sought his: '.„, Ah, ; Michel— have always made me happy; but to-night I am the happiest woman in the world! — Benzigers. ' ■ .".■.;'