then and there have come to an end: his ingratitude, his treachery, and
his lack of moral fibre, were denounced on every hand.

One day, at this time, Maurice entered Schwarz's room. The class was
assembled; but, although the hour was well advanced, no one had begun
to play. The master stood at the window, with his back to the
grass-grown courtyard. He was haranguing, in a strident voice, the
three pupils who sat along the wall. From what followed, Maurice
gathered that that very afternoon Schwarz had been informed of the loss
of four more pupils; and though, as every one knew, he had hitherto not
set much store by any of them, he now discovered latent talent in all
four, and was, at the same time, exasperated that such nonentities
should presume to judge him.

To infer from the appearance of those present, the storm had raged fora
considerable period. And still it went on. After the expiry of a
further interval, Krafft who, throughout, had sat shading his eyes with
his hand, woke as though from sleep, yawned heartily, stretched himself
and, taking out his watch, studied it with profound attention. For the
first time, Schwarz was checked in his flow of words; he coughed,
fumbled for an epithet, then stopped, and, to the general surprise,
motioned Krafft to the piano.

But Heinrich was in a bad mood. He stifled another yawn before
beginning, and played in a mechanical way.

Schwarz had often enough made allowance for this pupil's varying moods;
he was not now in the humour to do so.

"HALT!" he cried before the first page was turned. "What in God's name
is the meaning of this? Do you come here to read from sight?"

Krafft continued to play as if nothing had been said.

"Do you hear me?" thundered Schwarz.

"It's impossible," said Krafft, and proceeded.

"BARMHERZIGER GOTT!--" The master's short neck reddened, and twisted in
its collar.

"Give me music I care to play, and I'll show you how it should be done.
I can make nothing of this," answered Krafft.

Schwarz strode up to the piano, and swept the volume from the rack; it
fell with a crash on the keys and on Krafft's hands, and effectually
hindered him from continuing.

What had gone before was as a summer shower to a deluge. With his arms
stiffly knotted behind his back, Schwarz paced the floor with a tread
that shook it. His steely blue eyes flashed with passion; the veins
stood out on his forehead; his large, prominent mouth gaped above his
tuft of b