“Shut that door!” he said.  “I ain’t been in here near long enough yet!”

CHAPTER X

WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST

The following night Elnora hurried to Sintons’.  She threw open the back door and with anxious eyes searched Margaret’s face.

“You got it!” panted Elnora.  “You got it!  I can see by your face that you did.  Oh, give it to me!”

“Yes, I got it, honey, I got it all right, but don’t be so fast.  It had been kept in such a damp place it needed glueing, it had to have strings, and a key was gone.  I knew how much you wanted it, so I sent Wesley right to town with it.  They said they could fix it good as new, but it should be varnished, and that it would take several days for the glue to set.  You can have it Saturday.”

“You found it where you thought it was?  You know it’s his?”

“Yes, it was just where I thought, and it’s the same violin I’ve seen him play hundreds of times.  It’s all right, only laying so long it needs fixing.”

“Oh Aunt Margaret!  Can I ever wait?”

“It does seem a long time, but how could I help it?  You couldn’t do anything with it as it was.  You see, it had been hidden away in a garret, and it needed cleaning and drying to make it fit to play again.  You can have it Saturday sure.  But Elnora, you’ve got to promise me that you will leave it here, or in town, and not let your mother get a hint of it.  I don’t know what she’d do.”

“Uncle Wesley can bring it here until Monday.  Then I will take it to school so that I can practise at noon.  Oh, I don’t know how to thank you.  And there’s more than the violin for which to be thankful.  You’ve given me my father.  Last night I saw him plainly as life.”

“Elnora you were dreaming!”

“I know I was dreaming, but I saw him.  I saw him so closely that a tiny white scar at the corner of his eyebrow showed.  I was just reaching out to touch him when he disappeared.”

“Who told you there was a scar on his forehead?”

“No one ever did in all my life.  I saw it last night as he went down.  And oh, Aunt Margaret!  I saw what she did, and I heard his cries!  No matter what she does, I don’t believe I ever can be angry with her again.  Her heart is broken, and she can’t help it.  Oh, it was terrible, but I am glad I saw it.  Now, I will always understand.”

“I don’t know what to make of that,” said Margaret.  “I don’t believe in such stuff at all, but you couldn’t make it up, for you didn’t know.”

“I only know that I played the violin last night, as he played it, and while I played he came through the woods from the direction of Carneys’.  It was summer and all the flowers were in bloom.  He wore gray trousers and a blue shirt, his head was bare, and his face was beautiful.  I could almost touch him when he sank.”