Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-07-31

| 1t was an intensely cold and still winters day
there was not sound TO be heard in the village
| save now and then distant sleigh-bell, the
dropping of some huge icicle, or the loud report
| OF some nail as 1t sprung with the frost in the
rafters As the signor sat there now with the
broken volute of his violin In his left hand, and
the other band wound in bis hair distractedly,
| one Of these pails went of, az you might say,
| with more of an explosion than usual upon the
| frosty silence Of the afternoon, followed by q
clear, resonant note that for half moment SEEM
ed to fill the house with r silvery vibration.
They all heard it and looked up bewildered and
| suddenly jessie With joyous cry, sprang to her
feet and darted from the room. The garret
door had been eftopen by somebody she found.
| In q moment she was back, and had placed in
| the hands Of the signor, whose mood Of frenzy
had been succeeded by one OF silent desperation,
| the little black fiddle.
''It fell from its nail" she was saying. 'It
war that we heard. it wanted to come and
comfort you you Sec Ia it good for any thing2
Can yon mend your own with it 1t is 40 old.''
Why do yoii bring mo this, my C.. .ld?" he
asked sadly, but took it, and ran his eye over it.
! Something seemed to strike MIN as he did no.
He bent his head quickly lifted the violin to his
car, and tapped it and listened, ran his finger
down its lines took out his handkerchief, and
busted it minutely His hands began to shake;
he WAS holding his breath; he was comparing
the measurements OF the black fiddle with GER
| tain figures i'll memorandum book drawn from
his pocket He peered into it's every dimension
| in sort OF mad haste He took magnifer,
and then with bit Of chamois leather began
rubbing the end of the little black fiddle AZ if he
We're polishing jewel. All at once he cried
| out
"Aha Behold it II is here Read it, my
children, read 'iSoto Ia discipline d. A. Sird-
| diparius, Oremona. / II s. 1t is his, the
| Giuseppe del Jesus, when the great Antoine was
| his master. That is his seal, that 4 II s. Oh,
| the rogue But he knew music And Antoine
Stradivarius has had it in his hands h,s looked
at it's sides, its table, it's onjes, its lustrous var
| nsh has drawn the bow across it has said it
| was good Qnick! where arc my strings? We
| will SEQ We will see. There is no bridge. That
is all right, The bridge would not have an
| swered. My Stainer bridge is whole yet"
| He was silent in long bnt hurried unrolling
| and fastening of the strings, an endless tuning
| and hearkening and tuning again, and then the
| walls OF the roum were vibrant about them, and
Slgnor Pazzani was playing on the little black
| fiddle aud the sweet, powerful sorority, the
| suaye, silvery, intense tone, the mellow but ma
iestie strength, wore ringing in their ears "hke
| the humming of swarm of angels wings,
said the signor, suddenly leaving Off, with his
| bow in the air.
.'Ali, look at it What grace in the curves
| how severe tho volute How purple and rich
| and full OF lusJres it will como ont when l shall
| restore it - lo cried, gayly, smiling on them
ono and all. .sit will be mine you will not think
| of keeping it {; you can none Of You play on it,
| he began to implorc. SIT liz a Guarnerius, the
| Giuseppe del jesus Ii is worth money-it is
| worth more you shall have a thousand, you
| shall have fifteen hundred, you shall have TWO
| thousand dollars for it
"0h, huall, indeed - cried jessie. 'Of course
you shall have it, Sir. Ii liz vslueless to LID it
| IL yours ~
''Stay, stay moment, Jessie, said her father.
''The little black fiddle is niue. That poor old
| Vagabond, fallen from his high. estate, gave it
| to me. 1t is way bread has Of coming back
| upon the waters after many days. II the signor
wants to pay me thousand dollars for it, we
will compass the other Ave hundred by orr
| selves, and you shall go to Italy"
| And the next morning Signor .Pazzani went
| off with the little black fiddle tucked under his
| arm and Mr.. Brooks went to the city with him
| to secure Jessie's passage in the next steamer
| that sailed for foreign shores. And the little
| fiddle had some share in il, after all.