"Waal—mebbe—but ter me it sounds a deal more like sawin'."
While Chopin probably did not time his "Minute Waltz" to exactly sixty seconds, some auditors insist that it lives up to its name. Mme. Theodora Surkow-Ryder on one of her tours played the "Minute Waltz" as an encore, first telling her audience what it was. Thereupon a huge man in a large riding suit took out an immense silver watch, held it open almost under her nose, and gravely proceeded to time her. The pianist's fingers flew along the keys, and her anxiety was rewarded when the man closed the watch with a loud slap and said in a booming voice: "Gosh! She's done it."
MRS. NEWRICHE—"I believe our next-door neighbors on the right are as poor as church mice, Hiram."
MR. NEWRICHE—"What makes you think so?"
MRS. NEWRICHE—"Why, they can't afford one of them mechanical piano-players; the daughter is taking lessons by hand."—Puck.
MUSICIANS
"Excuse me," said the detective as he presented himself at the door of the music academy, "but I hope you'll give me what information you have, and not make any fuss."