k, Andrew?" he said. "Paul Beck's in the hall, as mad
as a hatter, and he vows he'll play himself. He says he was engaged, and
no one shall take his place."

Andrew Blake looked disturbed, and Philip shared in his feeling. Was he
to lose his engagement, after all?

CHAPTER XXII. RIVAL MUSICIANS.

They entered the hall, which was already well filled, for the young
people of both sexes liked to have as long a time for enjoyment as
possible.

At the head of the hall, in the center of a group, stood a tall, thin
man, dressed in solemn black, with a violin under his arm. His face,
which looked like that of a sick man, was marked by an angry expression,
and this, indeed, was his feeling.

"I suppose that's Mr. Beck?" said Philip.

"Yes, it is," answered Andrew Blake, in evident discomposure. "What on
earth brings him here from a sick-bed, I can't understand. I heard that
he had a fever."

The fact was that Paul Beck was jealous of his reputation as a musician.
It was satisfactory to him to think that he was so indispensable that
no one could take his place. He had sent word to the committee that he
should be unable to play for them, supposing, of course, that they would
be compelled to give up the party. When intelligence was brought to him
during the afternoon that it would come off, and that another musician
had been engaged in his place, he was not only disturbed, but angry,
though, of course, the latter feeling was wholly unreasonable. He
determined that he would be present, at any rate, no matter how unfit
his sickness rendered him for the evening's work. He resolved to have no
rival, and to permit no one to take his place in his own town.

It did not seem to occur to Mr. Beck that, having formally declined
the engagement on account of sickness, he had no claim whatever on the
committee, and was, in fact, an interloper. It was in vain that his
sister protested against his imprudence. (He was an old bachelor and his
sister kept house for him.) He insisted on dressing himself and making
his way to the hall, where, as was to be expected, his arrival produced
considerable embarrassment.

Paul Beck stood in sullen impatience awaiting the arrival of his rival.

It so happened that no one had thought to mention to him that it was a
boy. He was prepared to see a full-grown man.

Philip followed Andrew Blake up to the central group.

"Who is it, I say," Mr. Beck was inquiring, "that engaged another
musician