"The Two Trombones."
In the first sketch we see him in his bedroom contemplating the unfamiliar instrument left by his friend; in the second he is at the theatre at the crisis when the leader of the band calls upon him to "play in" (as it is called) one of the performers on to the stage! Mr. Whiffles's instructions were to keep his eyes on the other trombone and imitate his movements exactly; but unfortunately the other trombone was a substitute also. The leader looks round, and seeing the two trombones apparently perfectly ready to begin, gives the signal, and the curtain rises. The dénoûment may be imagined! Other stories were illustrated by Caldecott, about this period, in London Society; one of Indian life, another called Crossed in Love, &c., but the artist wished that some illustrations should not be reprinted. Several drawings from London Society are omitted, from the same cause.
Christmas Day, 4.30 a.m.
"Please, Sir, Give me a Christmas-box."
"Clinching an Argument." Sketch at a "Debating and Mutual Improvement Society."
The freshness of fancy, not to say recklessness of style, in many of the drawings which came by post at this time—the abundance of the flow from a stream, the course of which was not yet clearly marked—raised embarrassing thoughts in an editor's mind. "What to do with all the material sent?" was the question in 1871—a question which Caldecott was soon able to answer for himself.