Two hurricane lamps and a rough deal table were all he had in
the way of stage property. But she was yet to learn that this man relied
upon surroundings and circumstances not at all. As she herself had said,
possibly the torch of genius burned brightest in dark places, for it was
certainly genius upon which she looked to-night.
He sat on the edge of the deal table with one leg crossed over his knee,
his dark face thrown into strong relief, intent, eager, with a vitality
that seemed to make it almost luminous. From the crowd that watched him
there came not a sound. The thought crossed Juliet's mind that the
instrument he played so cunningly might have been a harp from a fairy
palace. For there was magic in the air. He played with a delicacy that
seemed to wind itself in threads of gold about the inner fibres of the
soul. They listened to him as men bewitched.
When the music ended, a great noise went up--shouts and whistles and
cat-calls. They were wild for more. But Green knew the value of a
reserve. He laughed away the _encores_ with a careless "Presently!" and
called a young miner to him for a song. The lad sang and Green
accompanied, and again Juliet marvelled at the amazing facility of his
performance.
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