inheritance - C++ initialization list in second derrived class -

i'm trying write relatively deep class heirarchy , compiler keeps throwing "no matching function call [default constructor bass class]". here's scenario:

class {     a(int);//note, no default constructor }  class b : public {     b(int i, int j) : a(i), somemembervariable(j) {}     int somemembervariable; }  class c : public b {     c(int k, int l) : b(k, l) {} } 

and compiler throws error on line constructor of class c saying "no matching function call a::a()" , tells me use a::a(int).

i understand don't have default constructor class a, , compiler getting confused when try subclass subclass. however, don't understand why. have used initialization list avoid that. if use classes 2-levels deep works fine, third class gives me error. doing wrong here?

as people commented needed make constructors public , code had formatting issues:

class  {   public:     a(int a) : blah(a) {}; //note, no default constructor     int blah; };  class b : public  {   public:     b(int i, int j) : a(i), somemembervariable(j) {}     int somemembervariable; };  class c : public b  {   public:     c(int k, int l) : b(k, l) {} };  int main( void ) {   c c(5,4);   return 0; } 

this code compiles cleanly , want.