m earnest with problems that might well have turned the edge of a
determination less keen than that which was set to conquer them, and
battling thus unassisted and often, no doubt, against the craving for
food and fresh air which is inseparable from boyhood.

It would be wrong, however, to suppose that Haydn absented himself
wholly from his companions and their merry games. There was within him
a soul for play as well as for work, and there were occasions when the
spirit of mischief obtained the ascendancy. The choir was frequently
required to perform in the Royal Chapel when the Court was in
residence at Schoenbrunn. The palace there had been newly erected, and
the workmen had not removed the scaffolding, a fact which was hailed
with delight by the choir-boys as affording an unlooked-for means of
relaxation. One after another climbed the poles, each striving to
outdo the rest in attaining the highest point. In vain did the Empress
Maria Theresa, who had perceived them from her windows, issue
prohibitions and threaten dire punishment to the offenders--the sport
went on unchecked. At length a moment arrived when Joseph, who had
beaten his companions by climbing to the top of the tallest pole, and
was daring them to come up to him, was detected by the Empress in the
very act. The Hofcompositor was sent for, and the figure of Haydn
rocking himself to and fro on the pole duly pointed out. 'Give that
fair-haired blockhead einen recenten Schilling' (slang for a 'good
hiding'); 'he is the ringleader of them all,' said the Empress. The
descent of Joseph from his elevated perch, and the descent of the
Hofcompositor's rod, were events which speedily followed the royal
command.

A love of fun formed an essential part of Haydn's nature, but music
came before anything else. Even when playing with his fellow-choristers
in the cathedral square he would break away from the game at the first
sound of the organ, and enter the church to listen. His desire to
perfect himself in music was so strong that to the ordinary hours of
study and practice he voluntarily added several more each day, with the
result that he was often working sixteen or eighteen hours out of the
twenty-four.

Five years had passed amidst these happy surroundings when Haydn awoke
one morning with the joyous thought that that day was to witness the
arrival of his younger brother Michael at the Cantorei. How eagerly he
had looked forward to this break in his life, with