He tried on two or three evenings, while we were up the river, to get a little practice, but it was never a success.

Harris's language used to be enough to unnerve any man; added to which, Montmorency would sit and howl steadily, right through the performance.

It was not giving the man a fair chance.
"What's he want to howl like that for when I'm playing ?" George would exclaim indignantly, while taking aim at him with a boot.
"What do you want to play like that for when he is howling ?" Harris would retort, catching the boot.

"You let him alone.

He can't help howling.
He's got a musical ear, and your playing _makes_ him howl." So George determined to postpone study of the banjo until he reached home.