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Show in sympathy as if they .knew and felt and understood. "Pardon me," said he presently, "I seem to hear the voice of one long dead and dear to me. Thirty years ago it was mine; I fell ill and pledged it for a loan. That was in London. I was a long time between life and death, and when I came to get the Stradivarius they had sold it for the debt. Listen I I will show you what a voice it has." He tuned the strings and played, and as he played his fettered fingers were made free. His bow was like a trident quaking the sea of silence, and a dome of music like a mighty bubble rose to heaven, and the light and glory of the morning shone upon it. Far into the night these old men sat together, and the player never rested. 10 Now it so befell that there was a tenant in the Stradivarius who had never heard its thunders. Suddenly a great black spider rushed out of the dark cavern of the violin, and scurrying down the finger- board, was crushed beneath the strings. The player stopped. "It's a bad sign," said Bibbs. "Sorry you came here. You cannot buy the Stradivarius, and there 's no peace for you. '' "Unless you let me live here and help you tend the shop," the stranger said. " I have money and we both love music, and you are alone." "Yes," said Bibbs, "but if he comesthe owner-and takes it from us? " "But he may not come for years," the stranger said; "and let 's not borrow trouble." 11 |