The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1902-05-23

we saw the way the situation stood
We began to sort o. edge sidewise to-
ward the tent flap.
eve hadn't been asked 10 be made
umpires and none of us felt exactly
like pushing 10 the front and handing
down any decision as 10 the respective
Virtuoso abilities of Bill and Alec. We
saw that Bif's eyes were blazing and
that his nigh hand was sort o. twld-
ding ner'ously in the direction OF
his gun. And so our tide Just nat
urally set toward the tent flap.
"Alec set tie fiddle and bow down
after he'd got through and grinned
quizzically and powerful irritatingly
at Bin. Hf had a chagrined, evil
look on his map that ought to've
caused Alec TO he careful, but Alec
was flushed with triumph and his
four days souse. and he kept right
on grinning in BiEs teeth
'Ombrey,' said Biff. Strengthening
himself up and glaring hard at his
partner, femme tell you somethin'.
You're a ringer. You're \ -
"Now, it was at this very instant.
when the hands OF both men were
travelling toward their guns, that /
noticed a squat, heavy-set man, clad
in dark clothes, and with fiat
topped derby pushed back from a
very bald head, standing in the en-
trance Of the tent. / knew him right
away-had seen him in Denver the
week before.
I'VE OF the bunch were just about
TO execute our timely hike when Bif
and Alec were on the point of max
ing their gun play, when the little
man. who appeared TO be quite aware
OF what was in progress. walked jerk
lily up to where they stood confront
ing each other and almost on the
pinpoint OF plugging each other, and
he said. addressing them both, and
looking smilingly from one to the
other:
"I heard some blaying nod? yesY
"Bid and Alec both turned and
gazed with open mouths at the queer
looking little man with the bald head.
Neither of them said word, but
they just stared at him.
"'Oh, here is re veeolcen.' said the
squat man, picking up the insiru-
ment from the bar and scrutini1ng
II. Then he picked up the bow Bff
and Alec continued to stare al him
"'Vell, l blay for you said the lit
tie man. and he snuggled the violin
up under his chin like as If il was a
pet kitten. and he gave n flourish with
the bow, and then he brought II down
for crashing chord on all four
strings at once-and then Bits and
Alec's guns went back into their belts
and they forgot about everything
else except the sounds that were COM
Ing out of that catgut and. know
ing that the making Of war medicine
was over for the time being. we all
gathered around the squat man.
Did any Of you ever hear Edouard
Remenyi, the Hungarian violinist,
play? Because that's who the squat
man was-Remenyi. He had run down
from Denver to Cripple Creek to see
what new American mining camp
was like, and prowling around, and
hearing Alec's scraping Of The
Devils Dream he had Just dropped
into the honkatonk on an impulse,
withoutany idea ofwhat was going on.
"WeI, Remenyi played all right.
lie just nursed that old thing under
his fat neck ike a boy cuddles a
guinea pig with broken leg. and he
hadn't been playing more than two
minutes before every man in the gang
looked as II he had n sneaking sort
Of feeling that he hadn't done right
with his life.
"Biff and Alec sidlcd over to the
bar and leaned their backs against
Il, side by side, and every time that
squat man pulled out
tremolo that was particularly meaty
and reproachful and full o. meaning,
they'd exchange kind o. entranced /
smiles with each other and shake /
their heads sadly at each other.
81 don't know what il was that /
squat foreign man played. l never
Will know. But | know that what he /
played made me feel like I'd been neg /
Getting the folks back home, and when
reached my shack ! sat down and
wrote 'em letters until daylight.
"When after ten minutes Of straight
,laying, ne wound up with a lot Of
ow things way down on the G string
hat sounded like a brook gurgling
o itself in the night, and when he
ook the violin from under his chin
With a sort of dreamy smile on his
,udgy face, there was an amount of
oughing from those fellows standing
round such as | never heard outside
4 a hotel for 'lungers.' And none
4 the bunch seemed TO want to look
I each other except, Biff and Alec.
"They looked at each other silently
nd sheepishly for about two min
ties after Remenyi put down the vio-
N and mopped his forehead with
ig white silk handkerchief. Then
'iff walked up to the stocky virtuoso.
leared his throat, and said in a tone
hat was pretty hoarse;
'Podner, don't know who you
Il are. nor where you stampedes
rom, nor anything about you 'cepting
hat l just heerd. But | know who
am and what I've got. All l got's
nlf a hole in The rnck with enrne my