MR. SILVER (whom the excitement of the singing has at length reached).  Do you feel inclined now, Madam, to execute with me the duet from “The Creation,” between Adam and Eve?

MRS. GOLD.  Here is “The Creation,” but we will sing it by and by.  Mr. Forte is just going to play us his latest composition for the left hand, and some of the music of that romantic, deeply sensitive Chopin.

MR. GOLD (rushes in from his stock discussion).  Oh, yes!  Chopin’s B major mazourka!  That was also played at my house by Henselt, Thalberg, and Dreyschock.  Oh, it is touching!

ALL (except Mr. Silver, Dominie, and Emma).  Oh, how touching!

DOMINIE (to his daughter).  If he plays it in the same manner in which he accompanied “True Happiness,” you will hear how this mazourka should not be played.  It, by the way, is not at all touching:  it gives quite boldly the Polish dance rhythm, as it is improvised by the peasants in that country; but it is, however, idealized after Chopin’s manner.

(Mr. Forte plays several perilous runs up and down with various octave passages, all the time keeping his foot on the pedal; and connects with these immediately, and without a pause, the mazourka, which he commences presto_.  He played it without regard to time or rhythm, but with a constant rubato, and unmusical jerks.  A few notes were murmured indistinctly pp., and played very ritardando; then suddenly a few notes were struck very rapidly and with great force, so that the strings rattled; and the final B major chord cost the life of one string._)

MR. GOLD.  Excellent! bravissimo!  What a comprehension of the piece!  Such artistic performances make one even forget the stock-exchange!

MRS. GOLD.  You agitate my inmost nerves!  The English poet, Pope, holds that no created man can penetrate the secrets of nature; but you have penetrated the secrets of my soul.  Now do play at once the F sharp minor mazourka, opus 6.

MR. PIOUS.  What a musical evening Mrs. Gold has prepared for us!  What sublime sorrow lies in this production!

MR. SILVER (aside).  What would Father Strauss say to this affected, unmusical performance, that bids defiance to all good taste?

DOMINIE.  Mrs. Gold, it would be well to send for the tuner to replace this broken B string.  The next one will break soon, for it is already cracked, and its tone is fallen.

MR. FORTE (with a superior air).  It is of no consequence.  That frequently happens to me; but I never mind it.  The piano is a battle-field where there must be sacrifices.

DOMINIE (whispers to Emma).  He thinks that if the sound is not musical, still it makes a noise; and tones out of tune produce more effect than those that are pure.

EMMA.  Where did he learn piano-playing?

DOMINIE.  My child, he has not learned it.  That is genius, which comes of itself.  Instruction would have fettered his genius, and then he would have played distinctly, correctly, unaffectedly, and in time; but that would be too much like the style of an amateur.  This uncontrolled hurly-burly, which pays no regard to time, is called the soaring of genius.