A Head of Kay's by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse
page 34 of 179 (18%)
page 34 of 179 (18%)
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The concert continued. Half-way through the programme there was a ten minutes' interval. Fenn's pianoforte solo was the second item of the second half. He mounted the platform amidst howls of delight from the gallery. Applause at the Eckleton concerts was granted more for services in the playing-fields than merit as a musician. Kubelik or Paderewski would have been welcomed with a few polite handclaps. A man in the eleven or fifteen was certain of two minutes' unceasing cheers. "Evidently one of their heroes, my dear," said Paterfamilias to Materfamilias. "I suppose he has won a scholarship at the University." Paterfamilias' mind was accustomed to run somewhat upon scholarships at the University. What the school wanted was a batting average of forty odd or a bowling analysis in single figures. Fenn played the "Moonlight Sonata". A trained musical critic would probably have found much to cavil at in his rendering of the piece, but it was undoubtedly good for a public school player. Of course he was encored. The gallery would have encored him if he had played with one finger, three mistakes to every bar. "I told Fenn," said Jimmy Silver, "if he got an encore, that he ought to play the--My aunt! _He is!_" Three runs and half-a-dozen crashes, and there was no further room for doubt. Fenn was playing the "Coon Band Contest". |
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