Mr. Morley Quorn got a great reception when he came forward to sing "Honour and Arms," and when he got his second wind for one of the runs, and then went ahead of the piano through a feeling of terror lest he might not have enough breath to complete the run of "glo-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-horay," in one of those braggadocio flights of the great master, Mr. Kelton, who was among the performers on the platform, bowed his head and laughed gently to himself, but with the face of the man who laughs so that no one could fail to notice what he was about.
But although Morley Quorn saw him out of the corner of his eye, and longed to do for him all that Harapha looked forward to do for Samson, still he managed to pull himself together and make a distinct impression by his low note at the finish. He held on to that low note, and every one knew that he meant it to be a sort of challenge to that fellow Kelton. But Mr. Kelton, feeling the same thing, was more offensive than before, for he joined in the applause that greeted the singing of the _aria_; only he ceased clapping his hands long before the rest of the audience had ceased clapping theirs, and then he glanced around with a look of pained enquiry in his eyes, as if he were the conductor of an orchestra asking his kettledrums what they meant by continuing their noise after he had given the signal that the thing was over.
He made a little motion with his hands when an _encore_ was insisted on, as though he felt that such an absence of discrimination made him quite hopeless of such an audience.
Mr. Morley Quorn, however, took his call, but not too easily, and when Mr. Tutt struck the first notes of "The Wolf" there were loud tokens of approval heard on all sides; for Morley's treatment of the panoramic effects of this song was well known to Framsby. While the horrors of the situation were being dealt with vocally, Kelton was wise enough to contain himself, and the basso went off the platform with an air of triumph.
Rosa looked into Priscilla's face and smiled; but Priscilla did not return her smile. She could not think that the fact of Morley Quorn's having come brilliantly out of the ordeal in any way exculpated Mr. Kelton for that sneering laugh of his.
