Well, the doctor knew how much I appreciated him. He was not nervous, therefore, in broaching the subject.
"We have come to see you, sir, about a concert."
"A what?" I said.
"A concert," he replied, in a little huff. "They have concerts every winter over at Labbawally, and at Balreddown, and even at Moydore; and why shouldn"t we?"
I thought a little.
"I always was under the impression," I said, "that a concert meant singers."
"Of course," they replied.
"Well, and where are you to get singers here? Are you going to import again those delectable harridans that ill.u.s.trated the genius of Verdi with rather raucous voices a few weeks ago?"
"Certainly not, sir," they replied in much indignation. "The boys here can do a little in that way; and we can get up a chorus amongst the school-children; and--and--"
"And the doctor himself will do his share," said one of the deputation, coming to the aid of the modest doctor.
"And then," I said, "you must have a piano to accompany you, unless it is to be all in the style of "come-all-yeen"s.""
"Oh, "t will be something beyond that," said the doctor. "I think you"ll be surprised, sir."
"And what might the object of the concert be?" I asked.
"Of course, the poor," they all shouted in chorus. "Wait, your reverence," said one diplomatist, "till you see all we"ll give you for the poor at Christmas."
Visions of warm blankets for Nelly Purcell, and Mag Grady; visions of warm socks for my little children; visions of tons of coal and cartloads of timber; visions of vast chests of tea and mountains of currant-cake swam before my imagination; and I could only say:--
"Boys, ye have my blessing."
"Thank your reverence," said the doctor. "But what about a subscription?"
"For what?" I said. "If we all have to subscribe, what is the meaning of the concert?"
"Ah, but you know, sir, there are preliminary expenses,--getting music, etc.,--and we must ask the respectable people to help us there."
This meant the usual guinea. Of course, they got it.
The evening of the concert came, and I was very reluctant to leave my arm-chair and the fire and the slippers. And now that my curate and I had set to work steadily at our Greek authors, to show the Bishop we could do something, I put aside my Homer with regret, and faced the frost of November. The concert was held in the old store down by the creek; and I shivered at the thought of two hours in that dreary room, with the windows open and a sea draught sweeping through. To my intense surprise, I gave up my ticket to a well-dressed young man with a basket of flowers in his b.u.t.ton-hole; and I pa.s.sed into a hall where the light blinded me, and I was dazed at the mult.i.tude of faces turned towards me.
And there was a great shout of cheering; and I took off my great-coat, and was glad I had come.
There was a stage in front, covered with plants and carpeted; and a grand piano peeped out from a forest of shrubs and palms; and lamps twinkled everywhere; and I began to think it was all a dream, when Miss Campion came over, and said she was _so_ glad I had come, etc., and I whispered:--
"I understand all now, when I see the little witch that has made the transformation."
Father Letheby sat by me, quiet and demure, as usual. He looked as if he had known nothing of all this wonder-working; and when I charged him solemnly with being chief organizer, builder, framer, and designer in all this magic, he put me off gently:--
"You know we must educate the people, sir. And you know our people are capable of anything."
I believed him.
Presently, there was a great stir at the end of the long room, and I looked around cautiously; for we were all so grand, I felt I should be dignified indeed.
"Who are these gentry, coming up the centre of the hall?" I whispered; for a grand procession was streaming in.
"Gentry?" he said. "Why, these are the performers." They were just pa.s.sing,--dainty little maidens, in satin from the bows in their wavy and crisp locks down to their white shoes; and they carried bouquets, and a subtle essence of a thousand odors filled the air.
"Visitors at the Great House?" I whispered.
"Not at all," he cried impatiently. "They are our own children. There"s Mollie Lennon, the smith"s daughter; and there"s Annie Logan, whose father sells you the mackerel; and there"s Tessie Navin, and Maudie Kennedy, and--"
"Who"s that grand young lady, with her hair done up like the Greek girls of Tanagra?" I gasped.
"Why, that"s Alice Moylan, the monitress."
"Good heavens," was all I could say. And the doctor sailed in with his cohort, all in swallow-tails and white fronts, their hair plastered down or curled, like the fiddlers in an orchestra; and the doctor stooped down and saw my amazement, and whispered:--
"Didn"t I tell you we"d surprise you, Father Dan?"
Just then a young lad, dressed like a doll, and with white kid gloves, handed me a perfumed programme.
"I charge a penny all around, but not to you, Father Dan."
I thanked him politely and with reverence.
"Who"s that young gentleman?" I whispered.
"Don"t you know him?" said Father Letheby, smothering a laugh.
"I never saw him before," I said.
"You cuffed him last Sunday for ringing the bell at the _Agnus Dei_."
"I cuffed that young ruffian, Carl Daly," I said.
"That"s he," said Father Letheby. Then I thought Father Letheby was making fun of me, and I was getting cross, when I heard, "Hush!" and Miss Campion rose up and pa.s.sed on to the stage, and took her place at the piano, and with one little wave of the hand, she marshalled them into a crescent, and then there was a pause, and then--a crash of music that sent every particle of blood in my old body dancing waltzes, and I began to feel that I was no longer Daddy Dan, the old pastor of Kilronan, but a young curate that thinks life all roses, for his blood leaps up in ecstasy, and his eyes are straining afar.
One by one the singers came forward, timid, nervous, but they went through their parts well. At last, a young lady, with bronze curls cut short, but running riot over her head and forehead, came forward. She must have dressed in an awful hurry, for she forgot a lot of things.
"What"s the meaning of this?" I whispered angrily.
"Sh", "t is the fashion," said Father Letheby. "She"s not from our parish."
"Thank G.o.d," I said fervently. I beckoned to Mrs. Mullins, a fine motherly woman, who sat right across the aisle. She came over.
"Have you any particular use of that shawl lying on your lap, Mrs.
Mullins?" I said.