She felt as I did, and this despair of soul might wreck her young life if there were no alleviation.

And so I sought to alleviate her distress and to banish her sadness.

The songs of these people had much impressed me; and one day, as I talked about this with Almah, she brought forth a musical instrument of peculiar shape, which was not unlike a guitar, though the shape was square and there were a dozen strings.

Upon this she played, singing at the same time some songs of a plaintive character.

An idea now occurred to me to have an instrument made according to my own plans, which should be nothing less than a violin.