The Young Musician | Page 7

must wait till the auction. Then you will have a chance to
bid on the instrument, if you want to secure it."
"Phil says it's his, and won't be for sale at the auction."
"Then Philip is mistaken. He is only a boy. The estate will be settled by
those who are older and wiser than he."
"I guess you'll find him hard to manage, squire," said Nick, laughing.
"We shall see--we shall see," returned the squire.
And, with a dignified wave of the hand, he cotinued on his walk.
After the visit of Nicholas, Philip thought it most prudent to convey the
violin which he prized so much to the house of his friend, Frank
Dunbar, where he had been invited to take his meals.
He was willing to have the furniture sold to defray his father's small
debts, but the violin was his own. It had not even been given him by his
father. Though the latter purchased it, the money which it cost had been
given to Philip by a friend of the family. He rightly thought that he had
no call to sell it now.
"Frank," said he to his boy-friend, "I want you to put away my violin
safely, and keep it until after the auction."

"Of course I will, Phil; but won't you want to play on it!"
"Not at present. I'll tell you why I want it put away."
And Philip told his friend about Nick's application to purchase it, and
the liberal offer he had made.
"Nick's generosity never will hurt him much," said Frank, laughing.
"What in the world did he want of your violin?"
"He wants to make himself popular with the girls."
"He'll never do that, even if he learns to play like an angel!" said Frank.
"You ought to hear the girls talk about him. He couldn't get a single one
of them to go home with from singing-school last winter. He teased my
sister to go, but she told him every time she was engaged to some one
else."
The two days that intervened between the funeral and the auction
passed, and the last scene connecting Philip with the little cottage
which had been his home was to take place.
In a country town, an auction-however inconsiderable-draws together
an interested company of friends and neighbors; and, though no articles
of value were to be sold, this was the case at the present sale.
Philip didn't at first mean to be present. He thought it would only give
him pain; but at the last moment he came, having been requested to do
so by Squire Pope, as information might be required which he could
give.
The bulk of the furniture was soon disposed of, at low prices, to be sure,
but sufficiently high to make it clear that enough would be realized to
pay the small bills outstanding.
Philip's lip quivered when his father's watch was put up. He would have
liked to buy it, but this was impossible; for he had only about a dollar
of his own.
Nick Holden's eyes sparkled when he saw the watch. He had forgotten
about that, but as soon as he saw it he coveted it. He had a cheap silver
watch of his own, which he had bought secondhand about three years
before. He had thought that he might some day possess a gold watch,
but he was not willing to lay out the necessary sum of money.
By dint of actual meanness, he had laid up two hundred dollars, which
he now had in the savings-bank in the next village, and he could
therefore have bought one if he had chosen; but, like Gilpin,
"Though on pleasure bent, he had a frugal mind."

Now, however, there seemed a chance of getting a gold watch at a low
price. Nick reasoned rightly that at an auction it would go much below
its value, and it would be a good thing for him to buy it-even as an
investment-as he would probably have chances enough to trade it off at
a handsome profit,
"I shouldn't wonder if I could double my money on it," he reflected.
Accordingly, when the watch was put up, Nick eagerly bid two dollars.
Philip's lip curled when he heard this generous bid, and he heartily
hoped that this treasured possession of his dead father might not fall
into such hands.
Nick rather hoped that no one would bid against him, but in this he was
destined to be disappointed.
"Five dollars!" was next heard.
And this bid came from Mr. Dunbar, the father of his friend Frank.
Philip's eyes brightened up, for there was no one he would sooner see
the possessor of the watch than his kind friend.
Nick looked chopfallen when he heard this large increase