soon as he
was able. Occasionally his grandmother would come and take the child to
play in the garden of the big house where she lived in the gardener's
lodge. These were red-letter days for little Hans, as he loved his
granny and enjoyed most thoroughly the pleasant garden and pretty
flowers.

The boy's first great trouble came when his father caught a fever and
died, leaving his mother without any means of support. To keep the
little home together his mother went out washing for her neighbours,
leaving little Hans to take care of himself. Being left to his own
devices, Hans developed his theatrical tendencies by constructing
costumes for his puppets, and making them perform his plays on the stage
of his toy theatre. Soon he varied this employment by reading plays and
also writing some himself. His mother, though secretly rejoicing in her
son's talent, soon saw the necessity for his doing something more
practical with his time and assisting her to keep the home together. So
at twelve years of age Hans was sent to a cloth-weaving factory, where
he earned a small weekly wage. The weavers soon discovered that Hans
could sing, and the men frequently made him amuse them, while the other
boys were made to do his work. One day the weavers played a coarse
practical joke on poor sensitive Hans, which sent him flying home in
such deep distress that his mother said he should not again return to
the factory.

Hans was now sent to the parish school for a few hours daily, and his
spare time was taken up with his "peep-show" and in fashioning smart
clothes for his puppets. His mother intended to apprentice her son to
the tailoring, but Hans had fully made up his mind to become an actor
and seek his fortune in Copenhagen. After his Confirmation--on which
great occasion he wore his father's coat and his first new boots--his
mother insisted on his being apprenticed without further delay. With
difficulty he finally succeeded in persuading her to let him start for
the capital with his few savings. His mother had married again, so could
not accompany him; therefore, with reluctance and with many injunctions
to return at once if all did not turn out well, she let him go.
Accompanying him to the town gate, they passed a gipsy on the way, who,
on being asked what fortune she could prophesy for the poor lad, said he
would return a great man, and his native place would be illuminated and
decorated in his honour!

Hans arrived in Copenhagen