"I don't know. I was trying to sell my violin when you spoke to me, and I would have sold it before, if I hadn't hated to part with it. My violin is all I have and when I'm sad, I find a spot where I can be alone and play to myself. Then I see all sorts of beautiful things in the sky, more beautiful than in a dream."
"Why don't you play your violin in the streets?"
"I did, but I didn't get anything."
How well I knew what it was to play and not get a coin.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
I don't know why, but on the spur of the moment, I put up a ridiculous bluff.
"I'm the boss of a company," I said proudly.
It was true, but the truth was very near a falsehood. My "company" only consisted of Capi.
"Oh, will you...." began Mattia.
"What?"
"Take me in your company?"
Not wishing to deceive him, I smiled and pointed to Capi.
"But that is all the company I have," I said.
"Well, what does that matter? I'll be another. Oh, please don't leave me; I shall die of hunger!"
Die of hunger! His words seemed to strike my very heart. I knew what it would be to die of hunger.
"I can play the violin, and I can dislocate," said Mattia breathlessly. "I can dance on the
