the boy kindly, and, drawing him to his knee,
said, 'Well, my little fellow, can you make a shake?'

Joseph looked up brightly. 'No, sir; but, then, no more can my cousin
Frankh here.'

Reutter laughed at this outspokenness, and then, telling Haydn to
attend to him, he proceeded to show him how the shake was to be
performed. After a few attempts Joseph succeeded in satisfying his
instructor, who praised him for his quickness. During the experiment
the boy's eyes had been fixed on a dish of cherries standing on the
pastor's table. Reutter, perceiving the longing thus silently
expressed, reached out his hand for the dish, and telling Joseph that
he had earned his reward, he emptied the contents into the boy's
pockets.

Haydn was next requested to sing a portion of a Mass which he knew by
heart, and when this trial was finished the Capellmeister expressed
his willingness to take him into the Cantorei of St. Stephen's.

The boy's heart leapt within him as he heard the words. It was so
unexpected; it seemed almost too good to be true! Then suddenly the
thought of his ragged clothing swept across his mind, and the tears
started to his eyes. Surely, they would never admit such an urchin as
he to the famous choir-school! Reutter, however, did not seem to heed
his untidy state, and Haydn took heart of hope that after all this
might be remedied. In the letter which he wrote to his parents, asking
for their consent, he included an appeal for money wherewith to
purchase new clothing. Mathias had a large family to support on his
slender earnings, but he contrived to send a few florins for the
purpose, and as both parents at the same time gave a willing assent to
his leaving Hainburg, Joseph felt that every obstacle to the
fulfilment of his happiness had now been removed. The parting with his
teacher, however, was not accomplished without some regrets, for,
after all, Frankh, despite his severity, had done well by his pupil,
and that pupil was not slow in expressing his gratitude for all that
he owed to his relative's instruction.

Possibly, if Joseph could have looked across the leagues which lay
between him and the city to which he was journeying with a power of
prophetic vision that enabled him to realise a portion of the future
that awaited him, he might have experienced some degree of misgiving.
But, happily for him, no cloud arose to obscure the sunny picture
which his imagination had drawn of the life that was opening b