Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-07-20
FIDDLER.


THE, FIDDLER.
The t1ddler-I could not tell you
his real name, but prefer to keep to
that by which he was most famili3r-
ly known-was first violin in a small
theateE He was tall. pale, and sick
~ looking, with JET black st aggling
hair that hung down over his 10 e.
head. Refined in speech, aud of a
loving and gentle disposition, he was
liked by all he came in contact with.
Fate had dealt harshly with him.
He had come of a good family and
had learned music under the best
maste.S But on the death of his
father. who had specialized unwise:y,
he found himself almost destitute.
He went to LONDON, expecting that
his talent would tie at once lecog-
nized, and that he should We v soon
make a fortune. But he was sadly
disappointed, for there he found
ployed.
Finally, after months of weary
waiting, and when be was on the
ve.ge OF trying some other way of
making a living, he got an engage
ment in one OF the small theaters.
True 1t was w.etched lenumera-
tion. but it was a commencement,
and he never entirely lost hope Of
something better turning up.
Al the end 0t eiv n,Ontho hic oo,1S
cation at n of the larger and better
class theate 8 vas success ul. 1t was
only a change of places, but instead
7f thirty he received sixty shillings a
week.
We y soon after that he married,
and in the following year his daugh.
ter Helen was born.
Five years alterwaid a great mis-.
for. une came to him. His poor wi e
died, aud he was left a widower with
his little girl.
Mis- ortunes, as a rule. do not come
singly, and SO it proved in this case
The fiddler. like most of his class,
was at the mercy OF circumstances,
and through no fault of his own he
lost his engagement
Then, and only then, did he thor
Dughly regret that he was a musician.
For almost twelve months he did
nothing. No matter how hard he
tried, he could net get an engage
ment He was not the only unfOr-
tunate he was only one among
many.
When the little money he had
saved was almost exhausted, he was
taken on again at the theater where
he first commenced.
The fiddler lived with his daueh.
ter in a room above a public house in
a poor and noisy neighborhood. The
frequenters Of the palace below we're
not, as q rule, noisy, and the sound
from the great thoroukhfare reached
the place only as a kind of murmur.
Helen was a sweet little creature,
the imagine OF her mother in feature
and expression, but her complexion
resembled her fathers. She was not
very strong and was often troubled
with q wearis0me cough.
In the evenings, before he went to
the theater, the fiddler smoked his
long German pipe, which Helen al
ways filled. Then she would sit
down at his feet and watch him in
silence She l. we'd to see the blue
smoke curl up in clouds round about
him.
But there came a time when the
fiddler could not smoke in the room,
for it affected Helen's throat. and
made her cough worse.
Then he would take his fiddle and
converse for hours with some of the
old masters He would become UNI
conscious of Helen's presence and
play as II inspired.
You never heard such music in
your life. He would play little mel
odles which brought tie tears we'll.
ing to your eyes. The notes seemed
to pierce you through and through.
They went straight to your heart
soft. tender n0tes-that recalled to
your mind all that you had cherished
and lost.
One evening the spell was rudely
broken. The people from the place
downstairs sent up asking him to
play something lively and gay, as his
solemn, church music was making
everybody miserable.
The enchantment was broken. The
fiddler put the instrument away with
. heavy heart and he played no
moro that night.
Helen grew worse and worse; the
cough became more hollow and pain.
1ni; her eyes were very bright and
skin like alsbaster. with Q flush on
the cheeks. When she began to nut
her hand to her chest when coughing,
the father called in . doctor.
The. poor child hsdtsen III. fol. .