a diligence arrived at Berlin. This was a period of leisure
travelling and living. Frederic saw Spontini, Mendelssohn and
Zelter at a distance and heard "Freischutz." He attended the
congress and made sport of the scientists, Alexander von Humboldt
included. On the way home they stopped at a place called
Zullichau, and Chopin improvised on Polish airs so charmingly
that the stage was delayed, "all hands turning in" to listen.
This is another of the anecdotes of honorable antiquity. Count
Tarnowski relates that "Chopin left Warsaw with a light heart,
with a mind full of ideas, perhaps full of dreams of fame and
happiness. 'I have only twenty kreuzers in my pockets,' he writes
in his note-book, 'and it seems to me that I am richer than
Arthur Potocki, whom I met only a moment ago;' besides this,
witty conceptions, fun, showing a quiet and cheerful spirit; for
example, 'May it be permitted to me to sign myself as belonging
to the circle of your friends,--F. Chopin.' Or, 'A welcome moment
in which I can express to you my friendship.--F. Chopin, office
clerk.' Or again, 'Ah, my most lordly sir, I do not myself yet
understand the joy which I feel on entering the circle of your
real friends.--F. Chopin, penniless'!"

These letters have a Micawber ring, but they indicate Chopin's
love of jest. Sikorski tells a story of the lad's improvising in
church so that the priest, choir and congregation were forgotten
by him.

The travellers arrived at Warsaw October 6 after staying a few
days in Posen where the Prince Radziwill lived; here Chopin
played in private. This prince-composer, despite what Liszt
wrote, did not contribute a penny to the youth's musical