"Play, then."

And Rico played correctly, and with enthusiasm,--

"Little lambkins, come down
From the bright sunny height;
The daylight is fading,
The sun says, 'Good-night!'"

[Illustration: RICO PLAYED CORRECTLY, AND WITH ENTHUSIASM]

The teacher sunk into a chair, and put his spectacles on his nose. His
eyes rested on Rico's fingers as he played, then on his sparkling eyes,
and again on his hands. When the air was finished, he said, "Come here
to me, Rico;" and, moving his chair into the light, he placed the lad
directly before him. "Now I have something to say to you. Your father is
an Italian; and I know that down there all sorts of things go on of
which we have no idea here in the mountains. Now look me straight in the
eye, and answer me truly and honestly. How did you learn to play this
air so correctly?"

Looking up with his honest eyes, the boy replied, "I learned it from
you, in the school where it is so often sung."

These words gave an entirely new aspect to the affair. The teacher stood
up, and went back and forth several times in the room. Then he was
himself the cause of this wonderful event; there was no necromancy
concerned in it.