music is only varied by a few notes of a tuneless song which the player now and then puts in. The servant girls are his principal patrons, and some years since one of these tom-tomers completely captivated a young English cook-maid and married her.
"A 'bal al fresco.'"
"Tom-tom."
The bassoonist admits that he has seen better days, but he enjoys playing his awkward-looking instrument, and, when the humour, plays it remarkably well. He was once in a military band, then in an orchestra at a theatre, and now picks up a pretty penny by playing in the evening in the West-end squares. He don't care for permanent engagements, and prefers to be "on his own hook," though he occasionally chums up with another street musician—Old Blowhard, who plays the cornet-à-piston. He only plays by ear, and can, therefore, only manage a few tunes, to which the bassoonist extemporises a telling bass. According to the bassoonist, "Blowhard is a rattling old boy when in a good humour, but he's awful short-tempered; and often when in the middle of a duet—especially in 'All's Well'—he'll stop blowing, call me nasty names, and step it. But he soon comes round again, and soaps me over by playing very feelingly—
'I love new friends, but still give me
The dear, dear friends of old.""
According to Blowhard, "Pumper"—that is, the bassoonist—is all right when he plays fair, but he will put in flourishes and fireworks, which puts me out and spoils everything."
"The bassoonist."
