The other practice to which I demurred was that in which these out-and-out musicians were wont to indulge when anybody a thought less offensive than themselves in aspect and bearing ventured to whisper a comment on the performance, whilst it was going on, to his or her neighbour. The merest ghost of a remark would cause these unsavoury fanatics to turn sharp round upon its utterer, glare at him with blood-chilling ferocity, and give vent to an angry hiss, resembling the hostile warning which a cantankerous old gander addresses to a dog seeking whom it may devour on a village green. This proceeding is not wholly forlorn of a comic element, and it rather entertained me the first time one of the Berlin prize musical scarecrows made me acquainted with it. But I found it pall upon me after a while ; and eventually it bored me so intensely that I left off attending concerts, all except Joachim's, at which I used to sit and watch dear old Moltke positively wallowing in silence, his favourite luxury.