"Because they were written for the fiddle," said Tom Orgreave with finality.
"Written for the fiddle? Not a bit of it!"
With superiority outwardly unruffled, Tom said:
"Pardon me. Brahms wrote them for Joachim. I've heard him play them."
"So have I," said Tertius Ingpen, lightly but scornfully. "But they were written originally for pianoforte duet, as you played them to-night. Brahms arranged them afterwards for Joachim."
Tom Orgreave shook under the blow, for in musical knowledge his supremacy had never been challenged in Bleakridge.
"Surely----!" he began weakly.
"My dear fellow, it is so," said Ingpen impatiently.
"Look it up," said Edwin, with false animation, for his head was thudding. "George, fetch the encyclopædia B--and J too."
Delighted, George ran off. He had been examining Johnnie Orgreave's watch, and it was to Johnnie he delivered the encyclopædia, amid mock protests from his uncle Edwin. More than one person had remarked the growing alliance between Johnnie and young George.