"Do you know anyone who plays like this?" he asked. His hands now wandered over the keys in uncertain, fluttering movements, one hand always a little behind the other, as in staccato fashion, he struck out "Ye Banks and Braes."
"Oh yes, yes," said Juliet; "I have heard people play like that."
"What do you think of this?" he asked next. His hands descended with a crash upon the piano, tore at the notes, flew up and down the keyboard. Crash followed crash, run pursued run, there was a tumult in which hammer and tongs, tin-whistle and wooden drum might have been taking part, assisted by an enraged cat. The piano rocked beneath the violent onslaught, the room seemed to shake with it; then, suddenly, the din ceased, and the performer leaned back from the stool, laughing.
Flossie and Juliet were laughing too.
"Whatever is that remarkable composition?" asked his sister.
"'Battle, Murder, and Sudden Death,' an impromptu, by Algernon Chalcombe," he answered gravely.
"Won't you sing something to Juliet, now she is here?" suggested his sister. "She wants so much to hear you sing."
The colour rose in Juliet's face. She looked half-ashamed of hearing such a thing said. But the suggestion was very agreeable to Algernon Chalcombe.
"With pleasure, if she wishes it," he said, in his low, musical tones. "Her wish is a command to me."
He sang a song which was comic without being vulgar. His singing was very spirited, and his full, rich baritone was delightful to listen to. But when Juliet asked for another song, he chose one of a very different description. It was Blumenthal's "My Queen," and he sang it with great power and feeling.