The Lamar register., 1891-04-04
ANOLD FIDDLER'S STORY.
a TALE OF A WONDERFUL, on,
VIOLIN.
is Told by the Old Man Ancr Hi. NI,h,..
work Was Done. in u New York
fiaee of Amusement-AII
True and vouchcd For.

Who had but recently Joined the orches.
.ra, turned to his companions and told
,ne following remarkable story as he
,hrummed the strings of his own in
sirument: -"
During recent visit 10 tha old
country IN search OF health | thought
y would be an excellent opportunity to
md a choice instrument. | travelled
slowly through sunny Italy constantly
on TIE alert for some sign that might
lead to tho finding of such a violin as
had always had in mind but which I
had never seen. One day | came IN a
dusty looking little shop with the sion
Niolins Repaired and Old Yiolins for
sale, staring through the little window.
entered. and found myself in a low
walled room red0lent with the mustv
smell Of antiquity. Upon the shelves
which extended on either side Of Tho
room, were a number OF yiolius. some
labelled with the owners name and
some with the date Of making. And
such an array Of old yiolins! There
werc violins ?, 900 years old.
Tho proprietor came forward with
q very pleasant mai1e-yourself-at-ho
sort Of an air. and / at once made
known the character OF my visit. He
said It would give him great pleasure
70 show me through his stock. and II
found anything that wanted. all right.
and II not Il was all the same to him,
as tho pain at parting with one OF his
pets was 80 great that the money part
OF the transaction could not make up
for H.
lie at once began to explain tho
history OF some OF the diffcrcat instr1I-
mcnts- At last coming to one of the
oldest looking and at the same time
one that showed that it had always
hrcn we'll taken care Of he bcgan some
thing In this vein: Hero Is a violin
thA; J. human. Il has beon IN the same
family for over 500 year, and readily
recognizes any member OF that family.
although many generations hav,, passed
away since they came into possession Of
this wonderful instrument or course.
] was paralyEcd with wonder and could
not imagine what ali this meant Il
asked tho price Of it. The price OF
itF he exclaimed in wild surprise.
Tho price OF it2 Would a mother sell
hc- chiidT
Il now began to understand what he
had meant when he called e human
and told him that intended no harm
in asking IN" question; I really wished
10 buy the hncst violin in tho world
lie SMILED and replied II you will
come hero this evening nt . o'clock
YOU can 500 the most wonderful sight
ever kno~u 70 mortal man. AT that
hour evcry night since tho vir,in has
bocn hcrs the little girl that owns II
c1rnes 90 ctress Il. Il T. truly 4 won
dcrTul sishtr / thanked him and
promised % be there. ! spent the in
;sryeuing time -oliloquizlng and won
dr-iny what wAs In store for me. and II
the mysterious violin were really
human. a human violin Whoever
heard of such a thing2 What does 1t
me1nr kent saying to myself over
and over again.
When night came | hAstencd TO
the litilc shop again. feyerish with ex-
element When entered there Was
an oppressive stiffness; not a sound Of
any kind was heard. | walked to the
rear and found the proprietor with his
elbows on his knees and his head In his
hands. apparently in deep thought.
spoke 10 him and he looked up with
wild. impioring look. which changed
20 one Of delight when he recognized
nc.
b. Oh, it's you. is it2 Glad you
came have often wished that some
one could Dc present when the child !
t1ld you OF is here. It is almost time
for her 10 come. All. there she is.
Noe for the most wonderful, most
Sublime
..He did not have time to finish for
all at once from the old violin on the
shelf came the clear and distinct do
with wonderful vibration and sweet
moss. as though "A master hand had
drawn n bow across IT, No sooner had
the first sound died away than it was
succeeded hy another. The old man
reached up and took 1t down and hand
ed II to me. As took the instrument
II repeated the do again and again;
not only could hear the sound, but l
could feel the constant vibration of the
whole violin. At last / recovered from
my astonishmcnt and asked what it all
meant The old man smiled and told
me that II was rs fuuch OF n mystery 10
him as It was to me, but that always as
soon a. the little girl entered there was
a continuous sounding OF the violin
until she took il.
handed It to the little girl, and to
my surprise the sound of the vibrations
ceased. She stepped to the case in
which the bows were kept, and, taking
one, began to play. And such music;
such divine music! never heard its
equal before and never expect TO
again.
At this juucture there was sharp
rapping by the conductor with his
baton rs he called the players attention
to the score. The musicians played it
as If they were in a hurry to get
through the act. When the curtain
was rung down again one OF them
reached far forward and whispered to
the white-haired old fiddler in
hollow, excited voice: "Well, what
them
why, l awoke," was the solemn
reply.