The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-05-27

( mans hearts blood. and that fiddle
can tell how and why he died.
i do not understand you"
L do not expect 'You tor believe
newly should you2 What have YOU.
! an unimaginatiye Anglo-SaXon. to do
with marvels? How, IN the center of a
( great. cruel. material city. with the
ceaSeleSS sound of traffic outside our
/ windows, should you expect anything
supernatural? 1t may be l only dream
ed it. Perhaps you would not see it.
And yet, one night when feel strong
/ enough, we viii take the fiddle from its
/ ease, and | will play it TO you'll who.
1 until tonight. have not laid a finger on
1t for five years. And then, if its music
moves you as it moves me. l dreamed
| no dream. If not, win say il was a
/ dream, and l may at last be able to use
/ this masterpiece of Stradivarius"
/ [ begged him to name an early dav
/ for the curious performance. but he
/ would make no promise; so we parted
/ for the night.
\ month passed by; Luigi's London
1 engagement terminated. and he was go
/ ing TO win fresh laureiS at Berlin
/ had seen him two or three times every
| week, but he had never referred to the
/ conversation which had taken place up
on the night when | drew the strange
[ violin from its case; nor had he offered
/ to redeem his promise made on that oc-
casiOn. | had ceased to think about it.
/ or indeed only remembered it as Jest,
/ laughing at the idea of a superstitidus
man no. being able TO play on any par
! ticular fiddle. Two days before he left
England he wrote me asking me to dine
with him that night. adding, Il think
may keep my promise of playing upon
| the StradivariuS."
We dined at a well-known restaurant,
. and about ten o'clock went to Luigi's
rooms TO finish the night. The first
thing | saw, upon entering, was the fid-
| dle-case lying on the table-Luigi's fa-
vorite bow and several coils of string
| beside II. We sat down and talked on
various topics for about an hour, and
/ then l said:
! Il see you have made preparations for
| the performance. When do you intend
! to begin?"
Luigi drew deep breath my friend. :"
he said. you will not blame me if my
| playing agitates you; and remember,
when | once begin | must continue to
the end. 1t is no pleasure TO nett is
rather deadly pain. But l am curious,
and would satisfy my doubts"
| He was so much in earnest that |
| checked the laugh his solemn manner
called up. and merely nodded acquies-
cence. He then rose, and, saying. we
| must not be interrupted" called his ser
want, and. after giving him the neces-
sary instructions, locked the door, plac-
| ing the key i'll his pocket. He then
| opened the mysterious case, and, with
| tender hands, drew forth the violin.
His nimble fingers soon detached the
| several strings, krfotted on the new
ones, and in the course of about quar-
| ter of an hour the instrument was
ready, and tuned to his satisfaction. |
| felt, as | watched him, | should like to
| take the violin in my hands once more,
to see If the strange desire | had before
| experienced would again come over me
but | hardly liked to ask him to permit
me to do so.
| And now all was ready-Luigi's criti-
| cal ear satisfied with the sound of the
| strings-and he seemed about to strike
| his favOrite attitude. Yet | noticed his
| pale face was paler than usual, and the
! hand pOising the bow seemed tremu-
lous; and as [ looked at him, sympa-
| thetic feeling of fear-a dread of some
thing, | knew not what-crept over me.
1t seemed too absurd, however, to be
| disturbed by an eXcitable Italian play
| ing violin in a room with all the ap-
| pliances of modern, everyday life around
| me; so | laughed away the feeling;
! placed myself at full length on the sofa
| my favorite attitude for listening to
| the masters perfOrmances-and was
prepared to give my undivided atten-
| ton to the music.
| And vet, for a while Luigi did not be-
| gin, although he sawI had resigned my
self to my fate. He had placed the vlo-
lin under his chin; his left-hand fingers
were on the strings. but for some min
utes he cOntented himself with beating
a sort of time, or rhythmical measure,
| with the bow. One would have said he
was endeavoring to recall something he
had heard once, and only imperfectly
| remembered.
What theme are you going to play to
mef" | asked.
On hearing my voice he looked at me
vacantly, and only upon my repeating
the question did he seem aware of my
presence. Then with an effort he said,
ceasing not to beat time the while:
"Ah, that [ do not know. | am no
longer my own master; | cannot choose.
Let me beg of you not to interrupt me
again, my friend"
| said no more. but watched him with
anxious eyes. The left-hand fingers
slipped, slid, and danced in dumb show
up and down the strings, the bow for
ever beating time. 4 sort of shiveT
passed over him; then, drawing himself
up. he swept the bow across the strings
and the fiddle, silent for so many years,
found tongue at last.
A weird strain, commanding the list
ener's attention at once-a strain knew
had never heard before. So curious
the opening bars sounded, that, had
dared, | should have said that several
well-established rules of harmony were
outraged. And vet, in spite of its pc
culiarity, [ knew that he who created
that music was a master III the art. 1t
was not Wagner. [ was sure, although
somewhat of his remarkable power OF
expression. and gift of moving the mind
without the aid of melody, was present
The first thirty bars, or so, appeared tC
me to be of the nature OF an overture
heralding the performance to follow
In SnatcheS of mystic music the ylollI
spoke of joy and sorrow, pain and pleas
: ure, love and hate. hope and fear; anC
as my own thoughts responded to tht
: varied, emotions, / lay and wondered
who could have written the music which
affected me so; and thought how fortu
; nate the unknown composer was to have
such an exponent of his ideas as Luigi
: Yet. as looked at the latter. it struck m.
! his style of playing tonight was differ
, ent from usual. Faultless though tht
execution was-marvelous as were th'
strains those facile fingers drew forth
| the whole manner of the man seemed
, to be mechanical, utterly at varianc'
with the fire and dash that ever charac
: | terized his performances. The skill wa
: there, but, for once, the soul was want
:, ing. With the exception of his hand
: and arms, he stood so still that he nigh
: have been a statue. He played as on
in a trance, and his eyes with a fixe,
: look were ever directed toward the en-,
Z of the apartment. SWifter and swifte
4 his arm few backward and forward
: more strange. eccentric, and weird tn
= music became-SJTonger in its expires
l sion. palmer in its eloquence. NOR
. thrilling in its intensity, and ever exeT
cising its powerful spell ON the hearel
: At last, with sort of impulse, | turne
my eyes from the player and looked il
the direction in which he looked. Sud
denly the music changed. There wa
now no lack of melody. A soft. sooth
!. ing, haunting measure began-a sort 0
u dreamy, far-away tune: and as its gentl
Z cadences fell ON my ear, hitherto KEEP
z in a state of irritating. if not unpleaS
S- ing, expectation, my thoughts began Il
wander to old half-forgotten scenes
I distant events came to my mind-reco
lections of vanished faces, once familiar
y fiOcked around me-all things SCENE
u growing misty and indistinct. and / fel
Z. as one sinking into sleep-the sort c
, sleep that one can almost realize an
NJ enjoy.
W It was not to be. however. A fe-
:. harsh notes from the fiddle. soundin
~ like warning or admonition, recalle
me to wakefulness; and as my strayin
, thoughts collected themselves, that lul
ing song began again.
y And yet. if fully awake and conscious
I ! where was II The scene was entirel
= changed; and although / knew / Wa
y still lying where l had at first place
I I myself-although l could hear within
- few feet of me the unceasing melodv {
> Luigi's violin-I was now looking I'M