“A deal better would I pay you to have the opportunity of taking lessons; but it is not possible, for when my master goes out in the morning he locks the door behind him, and he does the same when he comes in, leaving me shut up between two doors.”

“I vow to God, Luis, if you would only contrive to let me in a few nights to give you lessons, in less than a fortnight I would make you such a dabster at the guitar, that you need not be ashamed to play at any street corner; for I would have you to know that I have an extraordinary knack in teaching; moreover, I have heard tell that you have a very promising capacity, and from what I can judge from the tone of your voice, you must sing very well.”

“I don’t sing; badly; but what good is that since I don’t know any tunes, except the ‘Star of Venus,’ or, ‘In the green meadow,’ or the tune that is now so much in vogue, ’Clinging to her grated window, with a trembling hand?’”

“All these are moonshine to what I could teach you, for I know all the ballads of the Moor Abendaraez, with those of his lady Xarifa, and all those comprising the history of the grand sofi Tomunibeyo, and the divine sarabands which enchant the souls of the Portuguese themselves, among whom they are most in vogue; and all these I teach by such methods and with such facility, that almost before you have swallowed three or four bushels of salt, you will find yourself an out-and-out performer in every kind of guitar music.”

“What’s the good of all that,” (here the negro sighed heavily,) “since I can’t get you into the house?”

“There’s a remedy for all things:  contrive to take the keys from your master, and I will give you a piece of wax, with which you may take an impression of the wards, for I have taken such a liking to you, I will get a locksmith, a friend of mine, to make new keys, and then I can come in at night and teach you to play better than Prester John in the Indies.  It is a thousand pities that a voice like yours should be lost for want of the accompaniment of the guitar; for I would have you to know, brother Luis, that the finest voice in the world loses its perfection when it is not accompanied by some instrument, be it guitar or harpsichord, organ or harp; but the instrument that will suit your voice best is the guitar, because it is the handiest and the least costly of all.”

“All that is very good; but the thing can’t be done, for I never get hold of the keys, nor does my master ever let them out of his keeping; day and night they sleep under his pillow.”

“Well, then, there’s another thing you may do, if so be you have made up a mind to be a first-rate musician; if you haven’t, I need not bother myself with advising you.”

“Have a mind, do you say?  Ay, and to that degree that there is nothing I wouldn’t do, if it were possible anyhow, for sake of being able to play music.”