ces. Reutter
glanced at the work, and then tossed it back. 'Why don't you try to
write it for _two_ voices before attempting it in twelve?' was his
only comment, uttered in a sharp tone, in which sarcasm was too
plainly apparent. Joseph blushed deeper than before. 'Oh,' he said
simply; it was all he could say, for the master's sneer had struck
home. 'And if you must try your hand at composition,' continued
Reutter in a somewhat kinder tone than before, as he observed the
tears spring to the boy's eyes, 'let me advise you to write variations
on the motets and vespers which are played in the church.' With this
parting piece of counsel he passed on, leaving poor Haydn as much in
the dark as before with regard to how he ought to proceed. 'If only he
would instruct me in counterpoint, how I would thank him!' was the
thought uppermost in Joseph's mind, as he put his despised work out of
sight.

But no instruction in the art of composition was forthcoming from
either the Capellmeister or any of the teachers, and Haydn was thrown
back upon his own resources. He possessed the talent, however, as well
as the perseverance, and of neither of these qualifications could they
dispossess him, and so, taking to heart Reutter's well-meant
admonition, he set to work afresh. His resources in the shape of
pocket-money were almost nil, yet by dint of scraping and denying
himself he managed to save sufficient to purchase two volumes, upon
the outsides of which his eyes had often feasted as the books lay
temptingly displayed upon the shelf of the second-hand bookseller.
One of these works was Fux's 'Gradus ad Parnassum' (a treatise on
composition and counterpoint), and the other Mattheson's 'Vollkommene
Capellmeister' (the Complete Chapel-master).

[Illustration: '_He managed to save sufficient to purchase two
volumes._']

Precious indeed were these hardly-acquired volumes. Every moment that
could be snatched from schoolwork or choir-practice was devoted to
mastering the difficulties of the 'Gradus,' and in acquiring knowledge
concerning the high office which he had secretly set his heart upon
obtaining. There was unconscious humour in the fact that, following
upon Reutter's reproof to his over-ambitious strivings, the chorister
should have set himself to study the duties of his master's post. Yet
the temptation to smile is checked by the thought of the lonely
student giving up his play-hours to self-imposed study, battling in
gri