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Show -336- Most of the younger players were pianists, but two young girls played a violin duet and there xas one male vocalist, a dark curly-haired Italian boy, who had some difficulty with his aria, because his voice had obviously just changed; but who was applauded wildly for both his beauty and his courage. When the Professor's graddaughter appeared, his own interest sharpened, and he felt a strong hope that for her oxm sake she would do well. He needn't have worried. She was the first of the performers to show a kind of professional poise, and, except for a tendency to run a little too rapidly through the slower passages, she played with intensity and skill. Bent over the keyboard concentrating on the complex number she had been assigned, she seemed no longer the nervous little girl who had sat with them at lunch, except occasionally when she had to shake her head to throw her hair back from her eyes and even this she did with a kind of dramatic flair. Her teacher, who came out with her to take a bow at the insistance of the audience, smiled with pleasure, but diminished the performer slightly by the professional manner in which she responded to the applause. In the end, she put her arm about the young girl's shoulder, and together they made their way off the platform. The older performers who followed were, the Professor thought, often as good as his granddaughter, but none did better and some not as well. He xas happy to have happened onto this occasion, because it was the first time he had |