The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1903-04-10

- - E4AVSA.
for him. %>.@ %
1t was an odd companionship, these
three; Toto, with y her ,dove-colored
coat, the violin, in it's rich reddish
brown, and Kubeletsky, with long ra-
ven locks. These three alone in the
midst of the boundless, desolate ocean.
1t was, the 18th OF August that the
first break came to maj the happiness
of the trio, and it was a violin string
that broke. AS the sickening ''snap.'
OF the string interrupted the obligato
that Kubelefsky was executing, he
paused and tears rolled down his
cheeks.
Poor thing! Poor thing!" he MUIR
INJURED, as he stroked the mutilated vio-
lin, and Toto, seeing bis grief, came
and laid her head gently on his foot,
Thanks, Toto, sweetheart" he said,
you teach me to endure to be brave,
to be a man." and he dashed aside. the
tears.
1t was soul-trying to play with one
string missing, but Kubelefsky was a
wizard, and none but he would have
known the loss, so sweet were the
tones he drew from the remaining
strings. But the loss had taught him a
lesson, and he used the violin less and
gave Toto more attention.
But why should L prolong this tale
or render it one anguish long drawn
out? 1t. is pleasant, 1 admit, to tell
OF this trinity Of dependence and love,
but my heart is panied as 1 write,
tor l cannot forget the sadness of
the climax, and l must hasten on.
One by one the strings of Kubel-
efsky's violin snapped, and each
catastrophe seemed like a swapping
OF his heart string. When but one
string was left he confined his violin
exercises to a few short minutes each
evening, playing the Carnival OF
Venice" without variations, as ar
ranged for one sitting by Bounod.
1t was not much, but it was some
thing, and without his violin Kubel-
efsky would have been lost.
And then one evening the last
string broke!
The moon was nearing the west
ern horizon, and dark clouds were
croWding up from the east, bull a
flood of silver light still suffused the
sea and the ship. Kubelefsky was
leaning with his back against a fun
mel, and Toto was sitting in the
steamer chair.
When the last string snapped,
Kubelefsky let his hands fall to mis-
side, and and a depth of woe and
horror passed over his face so great.
that Toto, knowing something was
amiss, sprang from her chair and
rem to him, mewing piteously.
AS the first paroxysms of his grief
passed, Kubelefsky burst into tears,
and, bending down, seized Toto and
pressed her 10 his heart and walked
back and forth.
"You are my all now, Toto" he
cried, my last hope, my cniy friend!
You will not desert me, sweetheart.
You will not fail me. In you I can
trust"
His cries were more like these of
one seeking assurance than Of one
speaking a fact, and Toto licked his
hand and put a soft paw against his
cheek and sought in every way a cat
can to r%eassure him, and this gave
him great comfort. Presently he
became quieter and seated himself,
while Toto lay in her customary
place on his lap he fondlcd his mute
violin as a mother might fonIla her
dead babe.
Occasionally a tear would we'll in
his eye, but he would dash it aside,
crying:
mo! I will be brave! I have my
Toto"
Again he would sway his body to
and fro, crying:
my poor violin! My poor Strad!
So dead, so silent! Oh, 1 am bereft,
1 am undone!"
Thus he passed the night, with
out sleep, and all the next day he
walked the deck constantly. He
would not allow Toto out of his sight
an instant. AS the evening drew
near he became even more restless,
and when the hour arrived at which
he was wont to play his daily ''car-
nival," he fell under a. cloud of mel
ancholy. The longing to hear the
voice of his violin rent him in a thou
sand ways. He craved it as an opium
eater Graves the drug, as a drinker
Graves alcohol. His nerves were un-
strung, his hands trembled.
And this!" he cried. Cali this be-
cause I have not one poor little
string, one piece of cat" -.
He did not complete the word, for
his eye fell upon Toto sitting at his
feet gazing up at him with trustful,
confding eyes. Did she tremble as
he began the word, or was it his
imagination that deceived him? He
tried to put aside the thought that
had flashed across his mind. He
struggled with himself. But a power
greater than himself seemed to urge
lin on. His poor, mute violin seemed
to crV out to him. His fnpars coor,od