Again, with a sudden change
of mood, Barry swung into that old song of the homesick plantation
negro, "The Suwanee River"--a simple enough air, but under the
manipulations of a master lending itself to an interpretation of the
deep and tender emotions which in that room and in that company of
French, British, Canadian, American folk were throbbing in a common
longing for the old home and the "old folks at home." Before he had
played the air once through, the grey-haired American doctor was openly
wiping his eyes, and his colleagues looking away from each other,
ashamed of the tears that did them only honour.
Paula's flushed face and flashing eyes were eloquent of her deep
emotion, while at her side the V. A. D. stood quiet, controlled, but
with a glow of tender feeling shining in her face and in her soft brown
eyes.
Not long did Barry linger amid those deeps of emotion, but straightening
his figure to its full height, and throwing up his head, he, in full
octaves, played the opening bars of what has come to be known as
America's national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner.
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