CONTENTS
PREFACE
PHIL THE FIDDLER
CHAPTER I -- PHIL THE FIDDLER
CHAPTER II -- PHIL AND HIS PROTECTOR
CHAPTER III -- GIACOMO
CHAPTER IV -- GIACOMO
CHAPTER V -- ON THE FERRY BOAT
CHAPTER VI -- THE BARROOM
CHAPTER VII -- THE HOME OF THE BOYS
CHAPTER VIII -- A COLD DAY
CHAPTER IX -- PIETRO THE SPY
CHAPTER X -- FRENCH’S HOTEL
CHAPTER XI -- THE BOYS RECEPTION
CHAPTER XII -- GIACOMO’S PRESENTIMENTS
CHAPTER XIII -- PHIL FINDS A CAPITALIST
CHAPTER XIV -- THE TAMBOURINE GIRL
CHAPTER XV -- PHIL’S NEW PLANS
CHAPTER XVI -- THE FASHIONABLE PARTY
CHAPTER XVII -- THE PADRONE IS ANXIOUS
CHAPTER XVIII -- PHIL ELUDES HIS PURSUER
CHAPTER XIX -- PIETRO’S PURSUIT
CHAPTER XX -- PIETRO’S DISAPPOINTMENT
CHAPTER XXI -- THE SIEGE
CHAPTER XXII -- THE SIEGE IS RAISED
CHAPTER XXIII -- A PITCHED BATTLE
CHAPTER XXIV -- THE DEATH OF GIACOMO
CHAPTER XXV -- PHIL FINDS A FRIEND
CHAPTER XXVI -- CONCLUSION
Among the most interesting and picturesque classes of street children in New York are the young Italian musicians, who wander about our streets with harps, violins, or tambourines, playing wherever they can secure an audience. They become Americanized less easily than children of other nationalities, and both in dress and outward appearance retain their foreign look, while few, even after several years’ residence, acquire even a passable knowledge of the English language.
In undertaking, therefore, to describe this phase of street life, I found, at the outset, unusual difficulty on account of my inadequate information. But I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of two prominent Italian gentlemen, long resident in New York—Mr. A. E. Cerqua, superintendent of the Italian school at the Five Points, and through his introduction, of Mr. G. F. Secchi de Casale, editor of the well-known Eco d’Italia—from whom I obtained f