FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 127 



XXIII. 



IT set me thinking. What was it ? Why, 

 the other evening in the cloister, we had a 

 little concert by the Kneisel quartet; it 

 was this which set me thinking. 



In the first place, I wondered whether it 

 were possible that those whose ears are 

 trained to all the niceties of musical com 

 position and expression, whose knowledge 

 makes that of tlie mere layman seem as 

 nothingness, could have an enjoyment in 

 this wealth of sound in proportion to their 

 knowledge. I confess that I found myself 

 a little inclined to skepticism. I remem 

 bered the princess who tossed and tossed 

 upon her bed, because of the rose-leaf hid 

 den beneath how many mattresses was 

 it ? Extreme delicacy and sensibility bring 

 with them a certain penalty, and possibly, 

 after all, we of the grosser natures have 

 our compensation, and in the long run 

 drink a deeper draught of life. I will not 

 push the suggestion, for I am not by any 

 means sure that it is true. The s 



