In 1703 Handel decided that music should be his life study and work. He left the university and went to Hamburg. There he obtained a position in an orchestra. It was a poor place, and he was paid very little. The other members of the orchestra never suspected that he could fill a better place. One day the leader of the orchestra was absent. The musicians planned to play a joke upon Handel. "Come," said they to him, "you lead the orchestra to-day." They laughed merrily among themselves as he took his place. "Now we shall have some fun," they said to one another. Imagine their surprise when Handel conducted the orchestra even better than the leader could have done. While Handel was in Hamburg, he wrote four operas. Although he was not well paid for the work, he saved some money. He was very generous, and took great pleasure in sending Christmas gifts to his mother. After two years of hard work in Hamburg, Handel had laid aside enough money to take him to Italy. In 1706 he said good-by to his friends and set off on his journey across the Alps. For three years he lived under the blue Italian skies. During that time he learned to speak the language of the country. He worked hard and wrote opera after opera. In Florence his first Italian opera was given. It was listened to with the greatest delight. The grand duke was so much pleased that he presented Handel with a hundred pieces of money and many other valuable gifts. From fair Florence, the young musician went to Venice, the city of bridges and gondolas. The Venetians soon grew to be as fond of him as the Florentines had been. They spoke of him as the "dear Saxon," because he came from that part of Germany which is called Saxony. One evening Handel was invited to a masquerade. He planned to disguise himself so that no one should know him. He might have succeeded had it not been for one thing. He went to the masquerade, and for some time not a single person knew him in his strange costume. Finally he seated himself at the harpsichord, the room becoming quiet as he played. Some one was heard to exclaim: "None but the great Saxon could play like that! It is Handel!" Whenever his operas were sung in Venice, the theater was packed. One night every seat was filled. The audience was eager for the music to begin. At the end of the first act there was a storm of applause. During the remainder of the opera, at every little pause in the music, the building rang with shouts of, "Long live the good Saxon!" In the spring of 1710 Handel returned to Germany. He paid a visit to his mother, but did not stay long. In Italy he had made many English friends who invited him to visit London. It was about the beginning of December when he crossed the sea to England. Little did he dream that the remainder of his life would be spent on English soil. HANDEL IN ENGLAND [Music: (Handel's Largo.) Father in heaven, Thy children hear.]