The _artistes_ were arriving. The bass and the second tenor had already come. The bass, Mr Duggan, was a slender young man with a scattered black moustache. He was the son of a hall porter in an office in the city and, as a boy, he had sung prolonged bass notes in the resounding hall. From this humble state he had raised himself until he had become a first-rate _artiste_. He had appeared in grand opera. One night, when an operatic _artiste_ had fallen ill, he had undertaken the part of the king in the opera of _Maritana_ at the Queen’s Theatre. He sang his music with great feeling and volume and was warmly welcomed by the gallery;