| Most of the youngsters were just starting out as bandsmen, and in the years ahead of them they would acquire artistry enough to move into the B Band, which met in the next hour | He has his dream to have one of the letters of the A band varsity sweaters |
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| He was small, but with a thick chest developed in summers spent at the bottom of swimming pools, and he could hold a note longer than anyone in the A Band, much longer, but that was all he could do | Helmholtz, red-faced and apologetic, retrieved the baton, he found himself unexpectedly moved by the symbol of the empty chair |
Temporarily relieved until next challenge day, Mr.
| Helmholtz that the days of discrimination were over, that nobody in his right mind would dare to hold back a man with an instrument like this | Helmholtz was growing so nervous about the drum that he stopped a march in the middle because of a small noise coming from the large double doors at one end of the room, where someone out-of-doors was apparently working on the lock |
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| Nor had one come by the halfway point of the A Band session | Only two members of the C Band were playing now, a clarinetist and a snare drummer, both playing loudly, proudly, confidently, and all wrong |
The wooden doors opened with a shriek of rusty hinges, and a snappy autumn gust showered the band with leaves.
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