"I don't believe," said the Idiot, with a slight cough that may have
been intended to conceal a laugh--and that may also have been the result
of too many cigarettes--"I don't believe it could have been any more
interesting than a game of pool I heard at the club."

"It appears to me," said the Bibliomaniac to the School-master, "that
the popping sounds we heard late last night in the Idiot's room may have
some connection with the present mode of speech these two gentlemen
affect."

"Let's hear them out," returned the School-master, "and then we'll take
them into camp, as the Idiot would say."

"I don't know about that," replied the genial gentleman. "I've seen a
great many concerts, and I've heard a great many good games of pool, but
the concert last night was simply a ravishing spectacle. We had a Cuban
pianist there who played the orchestration of the first act of
_Parsifal_ with surprising agility. As far as I could see, he didn't
miss a note, though it was a little annoying to observe how he used the
pedals."

"Too forcibly, or how?" queried the Idiot.

"Not forcibly enough," returned the Imbiber. "He tried to work them both
with one foot. It was the only thing to mar an otherwise marvellous
performance. The idea of a man trying to display Wagner with two hands
and one foot is irritating to a musician with a trained eye."

[Illustration: "'WEREN'T YOUR EARS LONG ENOUGH?'"]