exclaimed that here was, indeed, a great artist lost
to the world. In spite of the poor violin, there was a marvellously
touching quality in the music; something new and alluring which had
never been heard before.

But Nils himself was not aware of it. Occasionally, while he played, the
Nixy's haunting strain would flit through his brain, or hover about it,
where he could feel it, as it were, but yet be unable to catch it. This
was his regret--his constant chase for those elusive notes that refused
to be captured.

But he consoled himself many a time with the reflection that it was
the fiddle's fault, not his own. With a finer instrument, capable of
rendering more delicate shades of sound, he might yet surprise the
Nixy's strain, and record it unmistakably in black and white.

The foreign musician and his American friend departed, but returned at
the end of two weeks. They then offered to accompany Nils on a concert
tour through all the capitals of Europe and the large cities of America,
and to insure him a sum of money which fairly made him dizzy.

Nils begged for time to consider, and the next day surprised them by
declining the startling offer.

He was a peasant, he said, and must remain a peasant. He belonged here
in his native valley, where he could do good, and was happy in the
belief that he was useful.

Out in the great world, of which he knew nothing, he might indeed gather
wealth, but he might lose his peace of mind, which was more precious
than wealth. He was content with a moderate prosperity, and that he had
already attained. He had enough, and more than enough, to satisfy his
modest wants, and to provide those who were dear to him with reasonable
comfort in their present condition of life.

The strangers were amazed at a man's thus calmly refusing a fortune that
was within his easy grasp, for they did not doubt that Nils, with
his entirely unconventional manner of playing, and yet with that
extraordinary moving quality in his play, would become the rage both in
Europe and America, as a kind of heaven-born, untutored genius, and fill
both his own pockets and theirs with shekels.

They made repeated efforts to persuade him, but it was all in vain. With
smiling serenity, he told them that he had uttered his final decision.
They then took leave of him, and a month after their departure there
arrived from Germany a box addressed to Nils. He opened it with some
trepidation, and it was found to contain