Sez he, “Sence my last affliction I have turned my mind agin towards music, I find it soothes.” Sez he, “After my first bereavement I took up the pickelo—I still play on it at intervals; I learned that and the snare drum durin’ them dark hours,” sez he. “And I still play on ’em in lonesome moments. I have ’em both with me,” sez he. “Durin’ my next affliction I learned the clarinet, the fife, and the base violin. Now,” sez he, “I am turnin’ my mind onto the brass horn in various keys. But I have brought all my instruments with me,” sez he, in a encouragin’ axent. “I frequently turn from one to another. When I get lonesome in the night,” sez he, “I frequently run from one to another till I have exhausted the capabilities of each, so to speak.” I sithed and couldn’t help it, but I held firm on the outside, and he turned to the organ. “I love the organ,” sez he; and with that he sot down on the music-stool, opened up all the loud bases, the double octave coupler, blowed hard, and bust out in song. Wall, it all come jest as sudden onto Melinda as a thunder-clap out of a parlor ceilin’, or a tornado out of a teacup, it wuz as perfectly onexpected and onlooked for as they would be, and jest as skairful. For this wuz one of her bad days, and bein’ a old maid, we thought mebby it would excite her too much to know a widower wuz in the house, so we had kep’ it from her. And the first intimation she had of Peter’ses presence wuz this awful loud blast of sound. His voice wuz loud in the extreme, and it wuz “Coronation” he bust out in. He is pious, there hain’t a doubt on’t, but still “Coronation” is the loudest him in the him-book. Wall, the very first time he blasted forth I knew jest as well as I knew afterwards what the result would be. I hastened upstairs, and there she wuz, there sot Melinda Ann in a fit; she hadn’t had time to get onto the bed, and there she sot bolt upright in her rockin’ chair in a historical fit. We had better let her known he wuz there. Wall, I histed her onto the bed as quick as I could, and hollered down the back stairs for catnip. And as soon as I had brung her to a little, she would clench right into me, and groan and choke, and sort o’ froth to the mouth. And I’ll be hanged if I didn’t feel like it myself, for right down under our feet I heard that loud, thunderin’ organ, for his legs wuz strong, and he blowed hard. But yet so curius is human nater, specially wimmen’s human nater—right there in my agony I couldn’t help bein’ proud o’ that instrument. I had no idee, I said to myself, not a idee, that it had such a volume of sound. But loud as it wuz, Peter’ses clarion voice rung out loud and high above it. It wuz a fearful time, very. But even at that moment I sez to myself agin: “He is a relation on _his_ side—be calm!” and I wuz calm. [Illustration: “IT WUZ ‘HOLD THE FORT’ HE BELCHED OUT IN.” ] Wall, I rubbed Melinda Ann and explained it to her, and poulticed her, and got her kinder settled down.