s. Camilla followed after, and named every tone
correctly and without hesitation. He was greatly pleased with the
experiment, and said he would hear her play. "Only, you must mind, I
don't like false notes." This was too much, and she replied indignantly
"I never give 'em, sir."

He laughed; and then, with demure seriousness, she began to play some of
her more difficult exercises from memory. She was a bold and sturdy
player, and astonished the master with the graceful sweep of her thin,
childish arm. He complimented her in a cordial manner, and hoped she
would go on with her studies. "Oh! she would, she would; she meant to
study all the time. Some day she would learn to play better still." And
then she went home, well pleased that the master had approved of the
method of instruction she had pursued. Let the gossips talk. She was on
the right road, and she didn't care for them.

This was the only time that Camilla played to any one outside her own
family during the first year of her musical life. Many musicians and
others asked to hear her, but M. Urso thought it best to refuse them. No
one was ever allowed to hear her practice, and her musical progress was
kept a profound secret. Naturally enough, this only excited curiosity,
and the gossip ran wilder than ever.

Her outward life was unchanged. She appeared regularly at the theatre
with her father, and sat by his side through the performance. The other
players often teased her, and asked her perplexing questions about the
music. What note was that? What key were they playing in now, and now
and now? Every time the music modulated from key to key, she followed
it, and named the notes and keys correctly, without hesitation.

Then something happened that made them think it might be well to let her
have a piece to play. And such a splendid piece! Not a mere child's song
for the violin, or a little dance. Nothing like that. A grand concert
piece such as the Masters played. De Beriot's famous "_Seventh air
varie_." A melody with variations, by the great composer De Beriot. To
be sure it was not equal to some of the grand works of Haydn or
Beethoven, but for those days it was considered a remarkable
composition. Since the little Camilla has grown up people have learned
more about violin playing, and what was then thought to be a great piece
of music would not now be considered as anything very remarkable.

As it was, Camilla thought the piece something quite wonderful, an