Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-07-18
THE SHOEMAKER

nnly for being the birthplace of Mozart, there dwelt once a shoemaker of the name of Siebold Veit. Notwithstanding | the lowliness of his station, this disciple | of St. Crispin burned incense assiduous- ly before the muses. Like the village Milton immcrtalized by Gray, Herr | Veit had been debarred in youth by | "chill penury' from the acquisition of | knowledge, but maturer days brought | him many a recompensing opportunity | for a glance at the pages of wisdom. | All was grist that gravitated to our | mental millstones, and the | stores acquired thus promiscuously from | reading and hearsay were never lost or suffered to molder for want of expres- sion. Indeed his application of what he gleaned was frequently so inoppor- tune as to excite the hearty laughter of his honest but critical neighbors, Yet he paid little heed to their merrfment, and today was as ready to excuse tho shortness of their boots with ''brevity is the soul of wit'' as to assure them tomorrow that their old shoes were brought never too late to mend"
 Siebold was bachelor from choice, but often let parts of the house, aquaint rcd tiled, low ridged, many gabled dwelling at the end of one of the serpen- tine streets characteristic of Salzburg. At the time WIG peep into his life We find him landlord of Gabriel Stoss, q student Herr Veit's proximity to so animated cyclopcdia proved such q stimulant to his lovc for learning as to bo well nigh inebriating. The mere creak of the stair, as the scholar went to and fro, was sufficient to make the shocmal<er's imagination reel in visions of the feast of reason that the very steps groaned to support.
 Occasionally in the evenings the stu dent would drop into his hosts Cozy workroom and read him versions of the Greek and Roman writers, and, carried along by his listeners whole soulcd at- tention and undisguiscd rapture, would not infrcqucntly continue tho inspiri:ing myths away into the night. At such times the simple toilcr's delight culmi hated in nothing short of ecstasy. Once when the student had retired with his little rcd margined vNlUmc of lcgS:.S3.s his admiring auditor actually stole into tho vacated chair to satisfy himself that an exchange of seats did not entail, q priori, n transfer of knowledge, and hastencd to bed, where before long he lost sight of sordid and bampcring real | ity in the bliSSfulnCSS of dream that brought ill its sequence the attachments of the professor of ancient languages i'll the very college attended by his lOdgCr.
 One summer evening. having finished his work early, the shoemaker Sauntcred out upon his porch to smoke and medi- tate the while on n recent narration uf the students. The story took his fancy SO much as to inCite him to action. Dur ing Herr Ncit's musings the sun set.
 The retired street grew still and dark. Lights appeared hero and there behind small diamond shaped panes and cm- phasized the descent of night. Suddenly knocking theashes from his meerschaum, the shoemaker entered his dOmicile, and,
 acting upon his cogitations, took down his time worn fiddle and drew from it a | few strains-a return to his former mis- tress, music. Away back in his youth | he could recall tho days when he ham, died the bow with no mean skill, but for many q year he had neglected music
 to delve in the more alluring field of let ters. Now again he applied himself to his instrument with fcrvur which made use of every spare moment until
 his old art returned so ravishingly that tho wondering neighbors straycd in to hear him at his new caprice. But they
 withdrew ever with jocund faces. for | try as they would to refrain from smiles | Herr Teit was sure to elicit mcrrimcnt
 in the end by some such observation as.
 Were never too old to learn:"
 It was on a morning after he had been practicing five months that tho shoe maker closed his shop locked up his | rooms, and mounting the steep. hare | steps that led to his lodEer's quarters
 left the key with Gabriel, adding that
 he was not to bc looked for until his re turn. Leaving the youth at the head of
 the stairway, key in hand. gazing won- deringly after him, our itincrlnt musi- clan covered carefully his violin with
 his long gray cloak, drew his broad
 topped woolen cap over his eyes and
 passed into the street, frCC at that carly
 hour of pedestrians. He made his way over q bridge across the Salzach to the
 brown meadows beyond the town. It
 was a most exhilarating morning The
 Salzach, as it foamcd between the peaks
 sentineling its banks, tree clad Kapuz-
 inerberg to the right, gloomy, rugged
 Monchsberg on the left, seemed to brawl
 more jubilantly than ever uf its descent
 from the distant Tyrulesc Alps The sun
 had not yet risen above the misty
 mountain tops. so the city lay in shad-
 ow, but the color suffusing the sky, and
 the glistening of the frost on the fallow
 meadows. and an occasional strain from
 some stirring songster bctokencd days
 advent The fresh air seemed to impart
 unwonted buoyancy to Herr Vcit He
 strode Justify on and soon passed the open country adjacent to the city. Up
 lands and lowlands he travcrscd for sev-
 eral days, pausing often to break the stiffness of dell and glade with the dull cet voice of his violin.
 At last he came upon n hamlet nes-
 tling, like his own picturesque town, in
 O stream threaded valley at the foot of
 O range of hills The dampncss of the
 day yelled the hilltops heavily in mist,
 Q circumstance which seemed to disturb
 the simple villagers very much. They
 were gathered in knot in front of the
 mountains regarding wistfully the sum-
 mits of tho nearest range. Tho wander
 ing musician, following the path that
 skirted the base of the hills, loomed
 suddenly in sight, and with one impulse
 the peasants hailed him as a being sent
 from other realms-to aid them per
 haps They oonjured him to disperse
 the clouds that for several days had
 hung about the mountains and prevent
 cd their getting to their fiocks grazing
 on the heights
 The traveller replied serenely in an
 unintelligible dialect that the clouds J certainly were fine evidences of a ndull day. but that the herdsmen YSrs