Page:Anecdotes of Great Musicians.djvu/35

Rh which has overtaken so many discouraged artists in Paris. The stranger, who turned out to be Vidocq, the great detective, directed Ole to go to a gambling establishment where they played "rouge-et-noir," and to continually place his money on the rouge. The young fellow did so, placing his last francs on the red. He won. He played again. Again he was winner. And he continued until a large sum of money was before him.

Fearing to lose what he had won, he retired from the table and watched the play for a few moments, just long enough to see that, had he continued playing the red, he would have won a fortune. But though he was on the verge of starvation, the money thus obtained was not without its sting. He wrote a friend, "What a hideous joy I felt—what a horrible pleasure it was to have saved one's own soul by the spoil of others."

The young Norwegian soon purchased another violin, and, being invited to play at a private concert, succeeded in attracting attention to himself in spite of the fact that all Paris was then worshiping Paganini.  

Here is a case of admiration of one artist for another that deserves mention. When the English musician, Rosengrave, was in Italy, at an evening company, a quiet and unassuming young man, who was present, was asked to play. "When he began," writes Rosengrave, "I thought ten hundred devils were at the instrument, for never had I heard such passages and effects before. So far did he surpass my own playing that had I but had a knife within my reach I would have cut off my fingers. So ashamed was I, that I declare I could not touch an instrument for a month afterward."

The quiet young Italian was Scarlatti, the celebrated Italian composer and performer.