Nobody would have suspected him of it. He hadn't what
is generally termed a singing face, by any means.

The wonderful duet between the cricket and the kettle at the
commencement of _The Cricket on the Hearth_ certainly deserves
mention, though it is rather difficult to know whether to
class the performers as instrumentalists or singers. The kettle
began it with a series of short vocal snorts, which at first
it checked in the bud, but finally it burst into a stream of
song, 'while the lid performed a sort of jig, and clattered
like a deaf and dumb cymbal that had never known the use of its
twin brother.' Then the cricket came in with its chirp, chirp,
chirp, and at it they went in fierce rivalry until 'the kettle,
being dead beat, boiled over, and was taken off the fire.'

Dickens was certainly partial to the cricket, for elsewhere
(_M.H.C._) we read of the clock that

makes cheerful music, like one of those chirping
insects who delight in the warm hearth.

There are two or three references to the key bugle, which
also used to be known as the Kent bugle. It was a popular
instrument half a century ago, as the addition of keys gave
it a much greater range of notes than the ordinary bugle
possessed. A notable though inefficient performer was the
driver who took Martin Chuzzlewit up to London.

He was musical, besides, and had a little key bugle in