"I play the violin for the company, and must needs have rosin at hand in case a string getteth obstinate. And it might beseem me to have some one nigh to hand me music in the order it must be played."
"Oh, but I can't be seen," cried Maid Sally.
"No more you need, young maid. Many fiddlers will be there, and you can have a low seat, even on a cricket hard by the bass viol, and though the players will be on a high platform, you can hide for a little while behind the big instrument and have a good peep at it all."
"How can I get in?" asked Sally.
"You can enter under the shadow of my wing," said Master Sutcliff, "but not long had you best remain. At first no one would notice you, but it might not be easy for you to long hide entirely: we change places once in a while."
"I will go the moment I am bid," said the maiden.
In very truth all the bliss of Fairy Land opened up to Sally the next night.
Never before had the maiden had an idea of the glamour, the bewitchment, the splendor of such a scene.
The costumes, or dresses, the dancing, and courtly manners,—the manners of those who are about the court of a king,—the music that thrilled and charmed her, sending all kinds of bright and airy dreams through her mind, all these sent the blood rushing swiftly through the veins of the delighted maid as, spell-bound, she peered from behind the great bass viol.