night. He did, indeed, tell him that he had found and opened an old
cupboard in the panelling, but made no mention of there having been
anything within. I cannot say what prompted him to this action; for the
two young men had for long been on such intimate terms that the one
shared almost as a matter of course with the other any pleasure or pain
which might fall to his lot. Mr. Gaskell looked at the cupboard with
some interest, saying afterwards, "I know now, Johnnie, why the one
shelf of the bookcase which stood there was made movable when all the
others were fixed. Some former occupant used the cupboard, no doubt,
as a secret receptacle for his treasures, and masked it with the
book-shelves in front. Who knows what he kept in here, or who he was! I
should not be surprised if he were that very man who used to come here
so often to hear us play the 'Areopagita,' and whom you saw that night
last June. He had the one shelf made, you see, to move so as to give him
access to this cavity on occasion: then when he left Oxford, or perhaps
died, the mystery was forgotten, and with a few times of painting the
cracks closed up."

Mr. Gaskell shortly afterwards took his leave as he had a lecture
to attend, and my brother was left alone to the contemplation of his
new-found treasure. After some consideration he determined that he would
take the instrument to London, and obtain the opinion of an expert as
to its authenticity and value. He was well acquainted with the late Mr.
George Smart, the celebrated London dealer, from whom his guardian, Mr.
Thoresby, had purchased the Pressenda violin which John commonly used.
Besides being a dealer in valuable instruments, Mr. Smart was a famous
collector of Stradivarius fiddles, esteemed one of the first authorities
in Europe in that domain of art, and author of a valuable work of
reference in connection with it. It was to him, therefore, that my
brother decided to submit the violin, and he wrote a letter to Mr. Smart