Margaret had insisted all that morning on being called Margaret instead of Maggie, and her head was held up an inch higher with the sense of her promotion to a harmonious name.
She had allowed other girls and boys to precede her in the testing of their voices, and now she came last. Uncle Ben waited anxiously for this moment, and when she stood up beside the piano and did as the others had done, singing “Ah, eh, oh, ooh” for the teacher, he listened carefully.
“Now sing this: and close your eyes to keep out all sight of things outside your mental vision of song,” advised the teacher, as she sang the queer sounds she wished the little girl to try.
Margaret did them, and the lady had her try others, until the girl laughed: “I kin sing songs better’n ’em funny noises!”
“Can you? Well then let me hear you sing ‘The Song of Love’ that I see printed on that chart,” replied the teacher.
Margaret sang it with her natural childish voice and in spite of having never had any idea of music other than that which inspired her soul, the true placing of her voice and the volume in the tones so pleased the teacher and music master that both exclaimed:
“Mr. Talmage, I am sure we have a wonder here! If she will show the same ambition to learn properly as she does to sing naturally, we will be amply rewarded.”
The training of Margaret began that summer, and so careful was the teacher because of the girl’s youth and refined mentality, that the course seemed to include everything except singing lessons.
Margaret was taught to walk and stand properly, and when seated or lying down, to keep her body from sagging. She was given breathing exercises daily, and taught to masticate her food thoroughly. She was shown how to speak with a sweet, low voice, and to enunciate her vowels carefully, always listening for a harsh note or discordant sound in her speech.
Easy, simple songs were permitted the girl, but the majority of her exercises were “Ohs and Ahs,” until she felt that singing was not quite so easy to master as she had thought. But she persevered, and when her growth was attained and her voice matured with the years, Margaret became one of the most sought-after of all soprano church soloists!