thought it very
becoming-though he knew that the tight, straight coat accentuated his
narrow chest, about which he was exceedingly sensitive. He was always
considerably excited while he dressed, twanging all over to the tuning
of the strings and the preliminary flourishes of the horns in the music
room; but tonight he seemed quite beside himself, and he teased and
plagued the boys until, telling him that he was crazy, they put him down
on the floor and sat on him.

Somewhat calmed by his suppression, Paul dashed out to the front of
the house to seat the early comers. He was a model usher; gracious and
smiling he ran up and down the aisles; nothing was too much trouble
for him; he carried messages and brought programs as though it were his
greatest pleasure in life, and all the people in his section thought
him a charming boy, feeling that he remembered and admired them. As
the house filled, he grew more and more vivacious and animated, and the
color came to his cheeks and lips. It was very much as though this were
a great reception and Paul were the host. Just as the musicians came out
to take their places, his English teacher arrived with checks for the
seats which a prominent manufacturer had taken for the season. She
betrayed some embarrassment when she handed Paul the tickets, and a
hauteur which subsequently made her feel very foolish. Paul was startled
for a moment, and had the feeling of wanting to put her out; what
business had she here among all these fine people and gay colors? He
looked her over and decided that she was not appropriately dressed and
must be a fool to sit downstairs in such togs. The tickets had probably
been sent her out of kindness, he reflected as he put down a seat for
her, and she had about as much right to sit there as he had.

When the symphony began Paul sank into one of the rear seats with a long
sigh of relief, and lost himself as he had done before the Rico. It was
not that symphonies, as such, meant anything in particular to Paul,
but the first sigh of the instruments seemed to free some hilarious and
potent spirit within him; something that struggled there like the genie
in the bottle found by the Arab fisherman. He felt a sudden zest of
life; the lights danced before his eyes and the concert hall blazed into
unimaginable splendor. When the soprano soloist came on Paul forgot even
the nastiness of his teacher's being there and gave himself up to
the peculiar stimulus such persona