DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22217#0110
98 THE ROMANCE OF A REAL CREMONA.
superior woman—one picked out of a hundred, I should say,
for quick intelligence.
My companion opened the conversation by asking to see one
of her late husband's instruments to compare it with that we
had with us, and in the course of the testing he managed that
our fiddle should find its way into the widow's hands. In a
moment or two I saw her start and look at it more closely, then
take it nearer the light and examine it closely at the scroll work
close to the screwing pegs, and then she turned to my com-
panion perfectly amazed, and said—
" Do you know what I've discovered ? "
" What?"
" This is my fiddle—the one that was stolen from M>—■--
the ^50 Cremona lost on the Penicuick road."
" Impossible !—that one was bought in Newcastle."
" That's nothing. I don't care though it had been bought
in Australia—it's his fiddle. Look here "—and she pointed to
some scratching on the varnish in among the scroll carving—
"what do you call that?"
We both looked very closely, and I said at last—
" It's like the letter M scratched with a pin."
" It is just that, and was scratched with a pin in this very
room. He did it one night before me, saying, ' If ever any
one runs away with my fiddle I'll know it by that whether they
change the ticket or not.' You need not take the fiddle away
with you, for I claim it as mine."
Here was a poser, but I was not to be so easily deprived of
what was mine only on trust. I quietly took the instrument
into my hands, saying—
" At present, Mrs M--, the fiddle is in the hands of the
police, and as soon as you make good your claim to it I have
no doubt it will be surrendered to you, but it seems to me that
you will require to advance better evidence than that of a mere
scratched letter."
" I for one can swear to the instrument," observed my com-
panion.
"And half a dozen more, when they see it," added the
widow warmly. " I will raise an action for its recovery to-
morrow."
" Tuts ! do not be so hasty—save your money in the mean-
time," I advised. " I may get the evidence for you quite easily,
if I can get the thief to confess. But that will necessitate a
journey to Newcastle, so it can hardly be done in a day."
superior woman—one picked out of a hundred, I should say,
for quick intelligence.
My companion opened the conversation by asking to see one
of her late husband's instruments to compare it with that we
had with us, and in the course of the testing he managed that
our fiddle should find its way into the widow's hands. In a
moment or two I saw her start and look at it more closely, then
take it nearer the light and examine it closely at the scroll work
close to the screwing pegs, and then she turned to my com-
panion perfectly amazed, and said—
" Do you know what I've discovered ? "
" What?"
" This is my fiddle—the one that was stolen from M>—■--
the ^50 Cremona lost on the Penicuick road."
" Impossible !—that one was bought in Newcastle."
" That's nothing. I don't care though it had been bought
in Australia—it's his fiddle. Look here "—and she pointed to
some scratching on the varnish in among the scroll carving—
"what do you call that?"
We both looked very closely, and I said at last—
" It's like the letter M scratched with a pin."
" It is just that, and was scratched with a pin in this very
room. He did it one night before me, saying, ' If ever any
one runs away with my fiddle I'll know it by that whether they
change the ticket or not.' You need not take the fiddle away
with you, for I claim it as mine."
Here was a poser, but I was not to be so easily deprived of
what was mine only on trust. I quietly took the instrument
into my hands, saying—
" At present, Mrs M--, the fiddle is in the hands of the
police, and as soon as you make good your claim to it I have
no doubt it will be surrendered to you, but it seems to me that
you will require to advance better evidence than that of a mere
scratched letter."
" I for one can swear to the instrument," observed my com-
panion.
"And half a dozen more, when they see it," added the
widow warmly. " I will raise an action for its recovery to-
morrow."
" Tuts ! do not be so hasty—save your money in the mean-
time," I advised. " I may get the evidence for you quite easily,
if I can get the thief to confess. But that will necessitate a
journey to Newcastle, so it can hardly be done in a day."