with a certain dryness--"I was never offered any engagement to sing in
oratorio after Burstal."

"I believe a good many people thought your talent would show at its best
in opera."

"I shall never go on the stage. The idea is hateful to me, and always
has been. Would you like me to sing on the stage?"

"No."

"Dion, why don't you tell me what happened that day at Burstal?"

"I scarcely could."

"I wish you would try."

"Well--I think it was a mistake for you to begin your public career in
oratorio by singing 'Woe unto them.'"

"Why?"

"It's an unsympathetic thing. It's a cruel sort of thing."

"Cruel? But it's one of the best-known things in oratorio."

"You made it quite new."

"How?"