Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-12-30
TAYETTE's VIOLIN.

We had been discussing all Kinds OF
,s,stlv and occult subjects that even.
hg Thompson aud l, until the fire had
jTindled away into pile of gray ashes
md Uncle Joshua had apparently fallen
neep Thompson was Theosophist
ud Presbyterian, SO some of our
tlts were of the liveliest sort Ihad
INST delivered myself of a coup of pecul-
i lar poignancy, so thought, when I'm.
] lie joshua suddenly opened his eyes,
stretched in his good, old fashioned way
and said:
I'm not up on karmas, astral bodies
and SUCH as you boys seem to be, but
before we all turn in l want to tell you
ghost story of my own-one whose
! truth can personally vouch for. "
Thompson and 1 filled our pipes and
Uncle Joshua hitched forward his chair
and began:
"0nce upon a time away down in
Georgia there lived a towheaded little
Cracker There were several distinguish
ng features about him. He neither
dipped snuff nor ate clay, and he had a
marvellous command of the violin. Day
after day, while his brothers and sisters
we're making pretense at work or idling
their time away in the neighboring vii
lage, he spent by himself in the lonely
pine woods playing, always playing. He
had never heard music other than that
the negroes made, but to him the wind
in the pines was filled with harmony,
and at night, when the rain battered
on the roof over his little bunk, he
dreamed of vast audiences and storms
Of applause.
i "In his character of reoluse, as years
drew on, he came to be regarded as gift
ed with magical powers He never
played in public. He never even played
for their dances But they said he played
for the birds and other wild things,
and that he could make them do what
ever he wished with the power of his
music However true this may be, it is
a fact that he caught fish while others
/ caught none. And on still days, just be-
1 fore storm perhaps, when even insects
/ were quiet, the strains of his violin
would float up from the river bottoms,
sweet and clear and wonderfully sad.
Tken all who heard it would stop what
ever they were doing and listen. Even
the babies would stop their crying and
field hands would swear no more that
afternoon.
"The boy and his violin were never
apart. Wherever he went he carried It
with him, and when he slept it lay at
his side No mother was ever more con-
siderate of her child than he was of it.
1.-THE violin, in spite of its humble
surroundings, was beautiful instru-
ment. Several attempts had been made
to sell it, but luckily the rich planters
Of the region, who were the moneyed
class, knew nothing of its value or did
not care. The boy had received the in
strument from his father. His father
had inherited it, so it was said, from
his own mother, to whom some lineal
ancestor had given it. Crackers do not
care much for pedigrees, but there was
a sort of dim tradition in the family
that they had not always been Crackers
that long, long ago, in the early
DAYS, they had been rich and infuen'
tial. But now of all their forgotten
wealth the violin only was left.
lone evening when he returned &c
his cabin after day spent as usual IL
the wildwood, he found his family IL
what for them was state OF excite
ment. They had been in arrears toi
their rent goodness knows how long, pu
now their landlord told them 1t wal
paw or 40. They could move their scan
belongings easily enough, but where Il
20 and what to do confronted their sim
pie minds like an insurmountable bar
rier.
1.-THE boy listened in silence to al
that they told him. Silently he ate hi
pone and sweet potato. Then he Washe'
himself and put on his shoes.
1.-The family looked in stolid slleno
while he made his preparations. OnI.
his mother asked him where he was go
ing, and to her he made no answer, the
say, only to go up and kiss her might
little kissing the Crackers do, but the
were used to his peculiar ways an
thought nothing OF it. ,
Uncle Joshua looked at us sharpi
over his spectacles to see If we were lol
lowing him and continued:
well, he showed up in Atlanta tina
night, he and his violin, about . o'olocl
He was tired and hungry and thirst
and lonely, for he had walked all ID
way from his cabin, IL miles away an
his heart was in his throat, too, FANCY
for he had never been in such crow.
before, and he had come determined
earn enough money to pay the rent
"Timidly at first and with hands INA
trembled he began to play but as
felt the caress of the violin against
cheek and its voice responded 10 II
touch his heart grew stronger his ey'
closed and his spirit was again anon
the sweet gum and pine. he was s'aiI
ing in a shadow near the entrance 10
big hotel, and at first his music attrao
ed no attention. Several gentlemen we
sitting on the hotel porch, 1t happene
chatting about cotton and other matter
and there was momentary lull III u
conversation. Suddenly one OF them Q
claimed: who in the world is that pia
ing the violin? It's beautiful. Ihey
listened. 1t was a wonderful meio'
they heard, quivering, flashing full
IRE, and yet through 1t all sors
yeaning, unspeakable meianohol
None of them moved. They were le'
tul of losing a note.