face to the quilt, and to the warm body below.

And so the night wore away.

XI.

Throughout February, and the greater part of March, the HAUPTPRUFUNGEN
were held in the Conservatorium: twice a week, from six to eight
o'clock in the evening, the concert hall was crammed with an eager
crowd. To these concerts, the outside public was admitted, the critics
were invited, and the performances received notices in the newspapers;
in short, the outgoing student was, for the first time, treated like a
real debutant. Concerted music was accompanied by the full orchestra;
the large gallery that ran round the hall was opened up; and the girls,
whose eager faces hung over its edge, were more brightly decked than
usual, in ribbons and laces. Some of those who stepped down the
platform seemed thoroughly to relish their first taste of publicity;
others, on the contrary, were awkward and abashed, and did not venture
to notice the encouragement that greeted their entrance. There were
players as composed as the most hardened virtuosi; others, again, who
were overcome by stage-fright to such an extent that they barely
escaped a total fiasco.

The success of the year was Dove, in his performance of Chopin's
Concerto in E minor. Dove's unshakable self-possession was here of
immense value to him. Not a note was missed, not a turn slurred; the
runs and brilliant passage-work of the concerto left his fingers like
showers of pearls; his touch had the necessary delicacy, and, in
addition to this, his reading was quite a revelation to his friends in
the matter of TEMPERAMENT. It is true that Schwarz prohibited any
undignified display of the emotional side of Chopin; the interpretation
had to be on classical lines; but even the most determined opponents of
Schwarz's method were forced to acknowledge that Dove made no mean show
of the poetic contents of the music. The master himself, in his
imperturbable way--he chose to act as if, all along, he had had this
surprise for people up his sleeve--the master was in transports. His
stern face wore an almost genial expression; he smiled, and talked
loudly, and, when the performance was over, hurried to and fro, full of
importance, shaking hands and accepting congratulations, with a fine
shade of reserve. Dove's fellow-pupils were enraptured for Schwarz's
sake; for, undeniably, the master's numbers this year were poor,
compared with those of other teachers. It behoved the remainder to make
th