A Creature of the Night

eft knee-cap, which quite incapacitated me from walking; therefore I was forced to remain in the house all day. This was

think herself safe in leaving the dead body of the young man lying in the room, and if I discov

s resemblance between my own experience and the legend related by Peppino had rather startled me; but, being certain that I had to deal with the natural, and not the supernatural, I was firmly resolved to unravel this mystery before leaving Verona. To do thi

e to be sure and come to my lesson. As the Maestro was always annoyed at the non-appearance of a pupil, I judged it wise to go, and arranged with Peppino to search for the Palazzo Morone i

d quite left my knee, so having thus arranged my plans for the aftern

rying along with large umbrellas of the Gamp species, red being the prevailing colour; and what with the sloppy streets, the gloomy houses, and the absence of the c

elling stone stairs which went up the side of the courtyard, and soon arrived at Angello's door. Ringing a little bell which tinkled in a most irritating manner, I was admitted into the dingy ante-chamber by Petronella, a short, fat, good-natured woman who managed the whole household, and made a great deal of noise over doing so. She was dressed in an untidy print gown, wit

e. Ah, the Maestr

atter with hi

he cannot live

ut was about to condole with Petronella over his illness, when she saved me the troubl

Signore; and those priests are such thieves. I said 'No lesson,' but the Maestro is a mule for having his own way. Let him teach, say I; it will divert his mind! There

was waiting for me, and his granddaughter, Bianca, who assisted him in his lessons, was looking out of the window at the falling rain. An atmosphere of sadness seemed to pervade the dull, grey room

venirs of famous artists of undying fame. His children, and, with the exception of Bianca, his grandchildren, were all dead; his friends and acquaintances and the generation that knew him had all passed away; but this Nestor of lyrical art still survived, alone and sad, amid the ruins of his past. White-haired, wrinkled, blear-eyed, silent, he sat daily in his great armchair, taking but little notice of the life around him, save to ask childish questions or talk about some dead-and-gone singer whose fame had once filled the world; but place a baton in his hand, strike the piano, lift the voice, and this apparent corpse awoke to life. He beat tim

ce; and her figure, small and slender, always put me in mind of that of a fairy. Indeed, in sport, I sometimes called her the Fairy of Midnight, after some poet-fancy that haunted my brain, for all her strength seemed to have gone into those glorious masses of ra

when he did visit Bianca it was during my absence, so I used to joke with the Signorina about this visionary being. But she, with one delicate finger on her lip and an arch smile of glee, would tell me that he--she never mentioned his name--that he had an actual exis

, are you

trouble; but you cannot he

erhaps

ve the lesson at once. The Maestro is dull to-

you to make a joke of

baton in the hand of the Maestro and sat down at the piano. The mummy, finding his serv

roaked--this being his nam

isited at a foggy season, and always made the above remark to

is old head like a Chinese man

Maes

not been

I have,

lése, we will see," an

rnal muscles of which I had never heard even the name--the weariness of incessantly practising notes in a still, small voice hardly audible,--it was enough to discourage the most persevering. Some of the female pupils, I believe, cried with vexation when not able to

with these painful memories there is mixed at the same time a kindly thought of that noble old Maestro, so patient, so courteous, so painstaking,

ording to directions, sang "ah!" "eh," "ee's" in a tiny, tiny voice, until at the end of the hour I was glad to sit down and rest before departing. I

e kitchen with some trouble, judging from the raised, tones of Petronella's voice; and as Bianca still sat at the piano, striking random chords, there was nothing for me to do but to take my departu