“Say, you all,” he cried, “what about a little music; the musicians have arrived.”
“Oh, music! music!” came the chorus.
“Take your places for the quadrilles!”
The dancers soon gathered in the middle of the yard. Mattia and I took our places up in a wagon.
“Can you play the quadrilles?” I whispered anxiously.
“Yes.”
He struck a few notes on his violin. By luck I knew the air. We were saved. Although Mattia and I had never played together, we did not do badly. It is true the people had not much ear for music.
“Can one of you play the cornet?” asked the big man with the red face.
“I can,” said Mattia, “but I haven’t the instrument with me.”
“I’ll go and find one; the violin’s pretty, but it’s squeaky.”