ty stomach-aches.

The orchestra at the 'singing-house' provided for Jack's
amusement when ashore (_U.T._ 5) consisted of a fiddle and
tambourine; while at dances the instruments were fiddles
and harps. It was the harps that first aroused Mr. Jingle's
curiosity, as he met them being carried up the staircase
of The Bull at Rochester, while, shortly after, the tuning
of both harps and fiddles inspired Mr. Tupman with a strong
desire to go to the ball. Sometimes the orchestra is a little
more varied. At the private theatricals which took place at
Mrs. Gattleton's (_S.B.T._ 9), the selected instruments were
a piano, flute, and violoncello, but there seems to have been
a want of proper rehearsal.

Ting, ting, ting! went the prompter's bell at eight
o'clock precisely, and dash went the orchestra into
the overture to the _Men of Prometheus_. The pianoforte
player hammered away with laudable perseverance, and the
violoncello, which struck in at intervals, sounded very
well, considering. The unfortunate individual, however,
who had undertaken to play the flute accompaniment
'at sight' found, from fatal experience, the perfect
truth of the old adage, 'Out of sight, out of mind';
for being very near-sighted, and being placed at
a considerable distance from his music-book, all he
had an opportunity of doing was to play a bar now and
then in the wrong place, and put the other performers
out. It is, however, but justice to Mr. Brown to
say that he did this to admiration. The overture,
in fact, was not unlike a race between the different
instruments; the piano came in first by several bars,
and the violoncello next, quite distancing the poor
flute; for the deaf gentleman _too-too'd_ away, quite
unconscious that he was at all wrong, until apprised,
by the applause of the audience, that the overture
was concluded.

It was probably after this that the pianoforte player fainted
away, owing to the heat, and left the music of _Masaniello_ to
the other two. There were differences between these remaining
musicians and Mr. Harleigh, who played the title role, the
orchestra complaining that 'Mr. Harleigh put them out, while the
hero declared that the orchestra prevented his singing a note.'

It was to the strains of a wandering harp and fiddle that Marion
and Grace Jeddler danced 'a trifle in the Spanish style,'
much to their father's astonishment