that the cavity within would be found empty. The cupboard was small but
very deep, and in the obscure light seemed at first to contain nothing
except a small heap of dust and cobwebs. His sense of disappointment was
keen as he thrust his hand into it, but changed again in a moment to
breathless interest on feeling something solid in what he had imagined
to be only an accumulation of mould and dirt. He snatched up a candle,
and holding this in one hand, with the other pulled out an object from
the cupboard and put it on the table, covered as it was with the curious
drapery of black and clinging cobwebs which I have seen adhering to
bottles of old wine. It lay there between the dish of medlars and the
decanter, veiled indeed with thick dust as with a mantle, but revealing
beneath it the shape and contour of a violin.




CHAPTER VII

John was excited at his discovery, and felt his thoughts confused in a
manner that I have often experienced myself on the unexpected receipt of
news interesting me deeply, whether for pleasure or pain. Yet at the
same time he was half amused at his own excitement, feeling that it
was childish to be moved over an event so simple as the finding of a
violin in an old cupboard. He soon collected himself and took up the
instrument, using great care, as he feared lest age should have rendered
the wood brittle or rotten. With some vigorous puffs of breath and a
little dusting with a handkerchief he removed the heavy outer coating
of cobwebs, and began to see more clearly the delicate curves of the
body and of the scroll. A few minutes' more gentle handling left the
instrument sufficiently clean to enable him to appreciate its chief