14.—OLE BULL AT "ROUGE-ET-NOIR."
Ole Bull first visited Paris in 1831. He was then twenty-one years of age, and had left his native country to make his journey to the French capital on foot, feeling that he must get a hearing, if possible, in some of the musical centers if he was to be successful in his musical life. He arrived tired, with little money and no letters of introduction. In a few days his clothes and his violin were stolen. In his despair, he was ready to seek relief in the Seine; and had it not been for a chance acquaintance who suggested a plan by which he might better his fortunes, he might have come to the same end 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.