The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1897-01-27


There wege thres weeks YET bsfoEs oon-
msncsn.ss i and In that time much could
| be done BY hard practtces but what wouh
| that avail, when Leon March would b. sure
| TO practice harder Leon might not get
| the prize. There were three other competi
tors besides Anthony himself, hut the
| chances were all In Leon's favor.
Anthony began again the oft repeated
process Of looking over his music, not yet
decided a. to which among his solos he
should play at the great concert. While
again balancing In his mind tie merits OF
two compositions, between which his dcci-
| sion wavered, there was n knock at the
| door, and In answer TO his shouted invita-
ton to come in Roy Willett opened the
door and poked his head In before entering
perhaps I can stand II IL you re only
| hooking at the music and not playing" he
| said as he pushed the door wider and came
| in Anthony tossed the music over on the
table with just a show Of vexation In his
manner I'm tired enough of Ii 10 be
| glad you We come. What's the use In try.
| ing for that miserable prize when we all
know that Leon will get itf ! don't call
| 1t a fair show for the rest Of u.s. We have
something else 10 90 and can't be practc
ing all the time, IA hc is. -
"You haven't heard about his violin.
have yous''
"No-unless you mean that old story
about his singing it 10 sleep.
Roy laughed, not at the story but at the
startled questioning on Anthony face.
Il am afraid that he will cry 1t to sleep
tonight, and himself too This afternoon
he broke hole In the back Of u, and you
can hardly call 1t q violin any longer. He
wants to give up entering the contest, but
Mandel won't hear Of 1t. The rest OF us
have good violins, and 1t will be our fault
If some one Of Us does not get the prize.
"After all, that's hardly fair, " said An
thony, sudden sympathy for his rival
springing to life In his heart
"It simply gives us an even chance with
him." said Roy. 1.-The disadvantages have
all been ours SO far, but now he's getting
his share That's all there Is to it,
That night Anthony could not escape the
remembrance that he had another violin
which he was not using stored away in
the little closet adjoining his sleeping
room. There was no reason at all why he
should not let Leon have 1t until after the
| concert save that by 30 doing he would be
increasing his rivals chance for the prize.
He knew that well enough, and Of what
use would the old one he with "A hole
punched in its backi OF course Leon de-
served the prize, just as Roy of right had
the honor of being captain Of the ball club.
Still, it was none of his affair II he broke
his violin. 1t was not n thing for which
he should make reparation, and why should
he trouble himself about one who had al
| ways repulsed his kindnesses, OF at least
had never invited them? He would be quite
sure of the prize himself if-but Anthony
could not bring himself To think of his be-
| ing O party To Icons failure. The old
| violin In his closet seemed to send out u
| lament because the music In its heart had
been so long unvoiced. He could fancy
| that the spirits of those who In long gone
days had played in its moving tones the
| joys and SORROWS of a vanished time And
| then-but Anthony would not think about
| 1t any more He turned his thoughts reso
lutely to his next days Virgil reading, a
topic stimulating his fancy 80 slightly that
| he soon forgot it all in sleep.
| It was three days later when Anthony
went into Professor Mandel's room before
the latter had finished the lesson he was
giving Leon. Both teacher and pupil were
| aggravated by the dull tones Of the cracked
| violin, and az last Mandel handed Leon his
| own instrument, upon which no pupil had
| ever before been permitted TO play An
| thony sat down and listened for the re-
| mandcr of the lesson hour. At first his
| heart sank within him. He could not SO
| much as dream of being able To play like
that. Then gradually the music came over
| him with all it's power. He wondered how
| so slight form, SO thin and etherealiZed
| "a face, should have for it's soul SO much of
| strength and mastery. Directly he forgot
| to think about this, and by the time Leon
had finished he knew what he should do.
The shy boy hardly understood him when
| he told him that he had an old violin Of
| good quality To the use of which he was
welcome for the rest OF the term; but An
thony himself played better that afternoon
than he had for weeks
Anthony did not enter the contest for
| the prize His father would he disap
pointed, he knew, but he had not the heart
to bring his fumbling with the bow into
comparison with Icons mastery of his in
strument. Roy laughed ut him and even
upbraided him little for lending his vio
lin, but Roy's laughter and upbraiding
| were alike harmless.
But after the concert, when the prize
had been awarded, Icons mother came to
| him without an introduction.
II do not know how TO thank you," she
| said, and her voice was not 40 steady as Ii
might have been. Leon giving him the
violin was more to him than the prize
Afterward, when they had gone to his
room together, Anthony told his father
why he had not played and with whose
| instrument il was that Leon had won His
father seemed to he thinking of other
| things, only nodding his head slowly TO
show that be WAS listening. Then at the
conclusion he spoke las from distance,
his eyes looking inep IA time of which An
| thony knew not.
.Your uncle used to play that same
fantasia on the old violin years ago. when
we were hoys together l can see him drop
| ping his head over the strings now. He
used to linger over that adagio until it
| seemed the melting tones were melting
voices calling, and even the andantes
pain Of human longing barely seemed to
bring him back to earth. 1t is no wonder
that your friend played well tonight -