pleasure. His merry jokes and light-hearted
conversation served to ingratiate him in the affections of all.
Leopold kept up a regular correspondence with those at home, but
Wolfgang never failed to add a little letter of his own, addressed
either to his mother or to Marianne, in which he joked about the
incidents of the journey, the people whom they met, or the friends
they had left behind. The letters were a mixture of German and
Italian, with an occasional bit of Salzburg _patois_ thrown in to make
Marianne laugh. But he relapsed into a serious style whenever he
referred to his playing or the performers whom they had heard in the
course of their travels.

The young musician had, indeed, no lack of work before him, for, in
addition to the regular performances which formed the chief business
of the tour, he was set difficult problems to solve at sight by the
various professors who desired to test his powers. The fame of his
playing preceded him everywhere, so that the further they penetrated
into Italy the more numerous became the demands to hear him. At
Roveredo, where it was announced that he would play the organ at St.
Thomas's Church, the crowd was so great that the monks of the
adjoining monastery had to form a circle around Mozart to keep back
the press until the steps leading to the organ-loft had been gained.
The vast audience listened spellbound to the performance, and then
refused to disperse until they had gained a glimpse of the boy-player.
At Verona, where another triumph awaited him, and where one of his
symphonies was performed, the Receiver-General ordered his portrait to
be painted, and wrote a letter to the mother full of warm praise of
her wonderful son.

On reaching Milan the chief musician of the city subjected Mozart to
the severest tests, from which he emerged victorious, and after
astonishing everybody by his playing and improvisation, he was
commissioned to write an opera for the ensuing season. It was at
Bologna, however, that he met with the most flattering reception. The
city contained many artists of the highest rank, over whom Padre
Martini, the famous composer of Church music and the first connoisseur
of the country, reigned like a king. Martini was, in fact, worshipped
by Italian lovers of the art, who deferred to his opinion in all
questions affecting music. But the Padre was very old, and had given
up attending concerts, so that every one was astonished when the
coming of Mozart brou