him, asking all sorts of questions, it was evident that he possessed
their affection and confidence.

He kindly motioned to them to keep silence, and asked what induced them
to expect leisure time on that day, when, by the exertion of all their
powers, they were to display their skill in the presence of their
mistress and the Emperor.

The answer was not delayed--nay, it sprang from many young lips at the
same time. Unfortunately, its character was such that Wolf scarcely
ventured to hope for the full success of the surprise.

Johann of Cologne and Benevenuto Bosco of Catania, in Sicily, the two
leaders and ornaments of the choir, were so very ill that their recovery
could scarcely be expected even within the next few days. The native of
Cologne had been attacked on the way by a hoarseness which made the
fifteenyear-old lad uneasy, because signs of the approaching change of
voice had already appeared.

The break meant to the extremely musical youth, who had been
distinguished by the bell-like purity of his tones, the loss of his
well-paid position in the boy choir, which, for his poor mother's sake,
he must retain as long as possible. So, with mingled grief and hope, he
dipped deeply into his slender purse when, at Neumarkt, where the
travelling musicians spent the night just at the time the annual fair was
held, he met a quack who promised to help him.

This extremely talkative old man, who styled himself "Body physician to
many distinguished princes and courts," boasted of possessing a secret
remedy of the famous Bartliolomaus Anglicus, which, besides other merits,