I The Wonder Child 11 II The Little Virtuoso 20 III In the Wide World 35 IV At the Imperial Court 50 V The Second Violin 70 VI In Paris 85 VII The Cavalier of Music 105 Appendix 119 List of Illustrations Standing by the pedals, he trod them and struck the keys as correctly as if he had practised for months _Frontispiece_ _Facing page_ He failed to observe a gentleman who had been watching him with a quiet smile 16 Hardly had he blown the first cruel notes when the boy, with a cry of pain, grew deadly pale 72 He greeted them courteously, and said: “Beautiful ladies, will you have the goodness to tell me where we really are?” 90 {harp} _Mozart_ {harp} Chapter I The Wonder Child Vice Chapelmaster Leopold Mozart[1] of Salzburg paced to and fro in his apartment, evidently disturbed and anxious. He stopped several times at the door of the adjoining room and listened intently to every sound within. Then he would resume his monotonous walk from one corner of the room to another. From time to time he whispered a hurried prayer. Great drops of sweat fell from his brow. His face was pale, and showed unmistakable signs of trouble and misgiving. The hands of the house clock, which persistently kept up its monotonous ticking, moved slowly forward. Minute after minute passed, and with every minute the vice chapelmaster grew more and more anxious. A piano stood at one side of the room. To divert his thoughts he went to it, and with trembling hands struck a few chords, whose soft, full tones seemed to exert a quieting influence upon him. He wiped the perspiration from his brow, and his dimmed eyes grew brighter as he went to the window and looked up at the sky. “Let the dear God do as He wills,” he gently said to himself. “He will surely do everything that is for our best and highest good.”