AX ASSEMBLAGE OF CONNOISSEURS. G5 



moment his bow ceased to move, the cayeutes leaped for- 

 ward to renew the battle. 



Dick now perceived what was his only chance of safety : 

 he must continue playing his violin until human succour 

 arrived. And ere long, yielding to the magical influence 

 of his art, he forgot the peril of his singular position ; 

 abandoning himself to all the phantasies of his imagina- 

 tion, he treated his quadrupedal audience to a fantasia in 

 which he surpassed himself. Never had he played with 

 more taste, more soul, more expression. And in the 

 intoxication of his triumph he forgot the marriage feast, 

 and the brilliant illumination, the punch, and the supper 

 which awaited him at no great distance. 



But, alas ! every medal has its reverse in this world ; 

 the to-day of pleasure is succeeded by the to-morrow of 

 anguish. As the night crept on, the old negro felt the 

 cold piercing to his very bones. In vain he sought to 

 gain a moment's repose : if the bow abandoned the 

 strings of the violin, the cayeutes dashed themselves 

 against the sides of the hut ; if, on the contrary, he con- 

 tinued to wander through the maze of harmony, these 

 novel dilettanti seated themselves on their hind-quarters, 

 their bushy tails stretched out upon the snow, their ears 

 pricked up, their tongues pendent from their open jaws ; 

 and they followed, with a measured cadence of the head 

 and body, every rhythm which flowed from old Dick's 

 violin. 



While this fantastic scene, illuminated by the silver 

 beams of the moon, was being enacted in the open plain, 

 the negroes who awaited the arrival of their comrade 

 to begin the bridal festivities, grew angrily impatient, 

 though unable to account for the unusual delay of one so 

 (4H) 5 



