| Show mcf va cop r by da ly story pub co my twin brother heiar ch was as you know a musician of rare talent f not genius both of us were said to have except onal abil ties a ong musical eineo in our youth like twins we were ery close together and very fond of one another poth loving music pass we te solved to become mus ceans and our patrimony in our studies we went abroad and worked under athe best masters and developed our talents as best we could I 1 ultimately found that ahad mis taken my vocation even as heinach pad found his lor while I 1 loved music equally with h my ap precia atlon apparently covered the entire range and I 1 loved equally to cul the voice the piano the violin and all the other forms finding none n which I 1 excelled particularly but find ing joy in all heinrich on tl e other hand found his 1 benest del in the violin to which he demoted and of which he became a master I 1 remember when heinrich discovered the stradivarius and secured it I 1 thought he would go crazy with jo land I 1 was nearly as much pleased and excited well all things have to come to an end our patrimony exhausted the question of bread winning became predominant it became clear to me after some thought that I 1 never could hope to become a great musician in any given line and I 1 respected music J too much to become a mere piano thumper or an orchestra hack so J embarked in business with the aid fit some friends heinrich well you remember his short and bri biant career and and his sudden death ah it was hard that he was to die far away in a foreign land and that it was not to be given me even to press down his 1 ds and kiss his lips in farewell all that came to me from heinach was his precious Strad ivanus and it was brought to me by a demoted friend of his who crossed the sea at his behest to deliver it into my hand it was as you may guess both a sorrow and a oy the night I 1 re it I 1 sat many hours gazing at it with tearful eyes and recalling the sweet harmony I 1 had heard the dead wring from it I 1 fondled it I 1 kissed it I 1 embraced it knowing that his loved fingers had touched every part of tt it seemed almost as though heinach was in the very room with me finally I 1 replaced it in the case and put it carefully in my closet on a high shelf where it would be sate I 1 fell into a peaceful slumber tired out from the play of my emotions I 1 do not know how long I 1 had slept when I 1 awoke and lay perfectly still my weariness had vanished and I 1 felt singularly peaceful while my mind seemed clarified As I 1 lay there thus peaceful and passive there came to my ears per factly plainly the clear notes of a violin and the music was hein rich s favorite W hat startled me was that the touch was heinach s very own and the sound was slight ly muffled the inference was clear the music came from the stradivari Strad ivar lus in the case in the closet my heart stopped beating as I 1 re called the many talks heinrich and I 1 had had regarding psychic ena he had been a firm believer in the Impens habil ty of the individual spirit although he held to no definite theories or views I 1 had been a skeptic was it could it be that the ardent spirit of my loving twin had returned to his Strad ivanus and his brother 9 I 1 listened intently the music con linued jumping from one of his old favorite tunes to another now sad now joyous now majestic now pathetic and through them all rang sat many hours gaz ng at it w th tear ful eyes the very spirit and touch of heinrich finally in sheer respect to my ma terla listic beliefs I 1 arose and opened the door into the main hall to see it I 1 could trace the sound the music ceased as I 1 opened the door I 1 went to the windows and looked put and made every investigation but could find no physical source of the As I 1 returned to bed I 1 was not surprised at hearing the violin again one short selection was all although I 1 lay awake long wait ng cor more the experience upset mo n ore than I 1 can tell you as the pt I 1 bad experienced na n rt violent cor to all the philosophy 0 my life before the next night I 1 had hilf convinced myself that the antiro affair was an hallucination deuced by the powerful emotions pro di ced by the coming of my brother s Strad ivanus again that night I 1 was awakened by the muffled music of the violin and aaen I 1 investigated to no pur pose on the third night I 1 could not sleep I 1 felt myself in the presence of the great mystery again the mu sic came and throwing on a bath robe I 1 dashed into the hall and sum 1 had to tell my miserable story boned my neighbor from the next room in the flat where I 1 had lodgings not a sound could he hear As as I 1 returned to bed the ghostly con cert was renewed I 1 became frantic laid the case be fore all the occupants of our flat who helped me investigate but to no pur pose was so insistent that they finally agreed I 1 was a little touched in the upper story the affair got on my nerves until I 1 became hysterical and one night when the music burst forth in a grand melody I 1 ran screaming into the hall in my bathrobe summoning my neighbors they got together and after con sult atlon decided that for my own good I 1 should be sent to a sanitarium some of the people were actually afraid of me to tell the truth I 1 had serious doubts as to my own san ity it being late at night an ambulance was summoned and it came attended by a big stout sergeant of police with a thick neck and a small round head he waited in my room while I 1 packed a few necessaries in a suit case of a sudden the music came again I 1 looked up wildly and grasped the sergeant by the arm he regarded me suspiciously do you hear it I 1 asked fremb ling hear phate he replied the music I 1 said pleadingly sure I 1 do said he and a piece it is too I 1 nearly wept for joy where does it come froma I 1 asked I 1 dunno said he its none ol 01 me business it is I 1 cried that is what they are sending me to the asylum for they can t hear the music and I 1 say it comes out of that violin case play ed by the spirit of my dead brother gwan he said walking into the closet coming back he summoned me to follow him cure ye of the bughouse it ye 11 mind he said I 1 followed him to the door of the flat and into the outer vestibule he pushed the bell of the next flat presently a young woman attired in a loose wrapper appeared whose the fiddled asked the policeman I 1 have been she replied all in a tremble oh I 1 do hope it disturbed people I 1 rented the whole of this big flat so I 1 could play when I 1 pleased without disturbing others well there s a windy in your closet that opens on the court said the policeman grinning and there s another windy in the close opposite which is in this gent s room and he thinks its ghosts I 1 would willingly have gone to the madhouse it I 1 could have gone that minute and never faced them again but I 1 had to tell my miser able story to the beautiful girl in the wrapper and she listened with mingled aughter and tears it seems she was a musician just returned from abroad where she had studied under the same masters heinach had which might account tor my hallucination as to the touch and she was doing concert work in the evening after which she delight ed to play away all for herself so she had rented the big flat where she thought she was alone with her ants and would disturb nobody that s all excepting that the beau ticul young woman that was Is my beautiful wife that is and she is now summoning us to dinner |
