American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories, American
[FOOTNOTE 93: orchestrion--a large mechanical instrument capable
of imitating various musical instruments or even an
entire orchestra. It usually included components of
an organ, piano, and percussion instruments. Those
made by the Seeburg Company were also called
nickelodeons because they played when a coin was
inserted into a slot. The Seeburg Company later made
"juke boxes."]
"That was Uncle Cal's style. But I never lost any patience with him,
on account of his thinking so much of Marilla. And she thought just
as much of him. He sent her to the academy over at Birdstail for two
years when it took nearly every pound of wool to pay the expenses.
"Along about Tuesday Uncle Cal put out for San Antone on the last
wagonload of wool. Marilla's uncle Ben, who lived in Birdstail, come
over and stayed at the ranch while Uncle Cal was gone.
"It was ninety miles to San Antone, and forty to the nearest
railroad-station, so Uncle Cal was gone about four days. I was over
at the Double-Elm when he came rolling back one evening about sundown.
And up there in the wagon, sure enough, was a piano or a organ--we
couldn't tell which--all wrapped up in woolsacks, with a wagon-sheet
tied over it in case of rain. And out skips Marilla, hollering, 'Oh,
oh!' with her eyes shining and her hair a-flying. 'Dad--dad,' she sings
out, 'have you brought it--have you brought it?'--and it right there
before her eyes, as women will do.
"'Finest piano in San Antone,' says Uncle Cal, waving his hand, proud.
'Genuine rosewood, and the finest, loudest tone you ever listened to.
I heard the storekeeper play it, and I took it on the spot and paid
cash down.'
"Me and Ben and Uncle Cal and a Mexican lifted it out of the wagon and
carried it in the house and set it in a corner. It was one of them
upright instruments, and not very heavy or very big.
"And then all of a sudden Uncle Cal flops over and says he's mighty
sick. He's got a high fever, and he complains of his lungs. He gets
into bed, while me and Ben goes out to unhitch and put the horses in
the pasture, and Marilla flies around to get Uncle Cal something hot
to drink. But first she puts both arms on that piano and hugs it with
a soft kind of a smile, like you see kids doing with their Christmas
toys.
"When I came in from the pasture, Marilla was in the room where the
piano was. I could see by the strings and woolsacks on the floor that
she had had it unwrapped. But now she was tying the wagon-sheet over
it again, and there was a kind of solemn, whitish look on her face.
"'Ain't wrapping up the music again, are you, Marilla?' I asks.
'What's the matter with just a couple of tunes for to see how she goes
under the saddle?'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account