"She will now, ladies and gentlemen, with your kind permission, give
you examples of the--"

"Blow yer zither!" here cried out the gentleman who had started the
agitation; "we want Joss Jessop."

This was the signal for much cheering and shrill whistling, in the
midst of which a wag with a piping voice suggested as a reason for
the favourite's non-appearance that he bad not been paid his last
week's salary.

A temporary lull occurred at this point; and the chairman, seizing
the opportunity to complete his oft-impeded speech, suddenly
remarked, "songs of the Sunny South"; and immediately sat down and
began hammering upon the table.

Then Signora Ballatino, clothed in the costume of the Sunny South,
where clothes are less essential than in these colder climes, skipped
airily forward, and was most ungallantly greeted with a storm of
groans and hisses. Her beloved instrument was unfeelingly alluded to
as a pie-dish, and she was advised to take it back and get the penny
on it. The chairman, addressed by his Christian name of "Jimmee,"
was told to lie down and let her sing him to sleep. Every time she
attempted to start playing, shouts were raised for Joss.

At length the chairman, overcoming his evident disinclination to take
any sort of hand whatever in the game, rose and gently hinted at the
desirability of silence. The suggestion not meeting with any
support, he proceeded to adopt sterner measures. He addressed