THE FIFTH STRING
Every one who knew her felt the gentle power
Of Rosalie, the Prairie Flower."
He sat again in the arm-chair and placed the violin under his chin. Tremulously he drew the bow across the middle string, his bloodless fingers moving slowly up and down.
The theme he played was the melody to the verse he had just repeated, but the expression was remorse.
******
Diotti sat upright in bed. "I am positive I heard a violin!" he said, holding one hand toward his head in an attitude of listening. He was wide awake. The drifting snow beat against the window panes and the wind without shrieked like a thousand demons of the night. He could sleep no more. He arose and hastily dressed. The room was bitterly cold; he was shivering. He thought of
109
