fixedly at me for a few seconds, and then went on his way to the rehearsal at the Opera.  I ran as fast as I could, and arrived at the Opera sooner than Richard Wagner did in his cab.  I bowed to him again, and I wanted to open the door of his cab for him; but as I could not get it open, the coachman jumped down from his seat and did it for me.  Wagner said something to the coachman—­I think it was about me.  I wanted to follow him into the theatre, but they would not let me pass.

“I often used to wait for him at the Hotel Imperial; and on this occasion I made the acquaintance of the manager of the hotel, who promised that he would interest himself on my behalf.  Who was more delighted than I when he told me that on the following Saturday afternoon, 11 December, I was to come and find him, so that he could introduce me to Mme. Cosima’s maid and Richard Wagner’s valet!  I arrived at the appointed hour.  The visit to the lady’s maid was very short.  I was advised to come the following day, Sunday, 12 December, at two o’clock.  I arrived at the right hour, but found the maid and the valet and the manager still at table....  Then I went with the maid to the master’s rooms, where I waited for about a quarter of an hour until he came.  At last Wagner appeared in company with Cosima and Goldmark.  I bowed to Cosima very respectfully, but she evidently did not think it worth while to honour me with a single glance.  Wagner was going into his room without paying any attention to me, when the maid said to him in a beseeching voice:  ’Ah, Herr Wagner, it is a young musician who wishes to speak to you; he has been waiting for you a long time.’

     “He then came out of his room, looked at me, and said:  ’I have seen
     you before, I think.  You are....’

     “Probably he wanted to say, ‘You are a fool.’

“He went in front of me and opened the door of the reception-room, which was furnished in a truly royal style.  In the middle of the room was a couch covered in velvet and silk.  Wagner himself was wrapped in a long velvet mantle bordered with fur.

     “When I was inside the room he asked me what I wanted.”

Here Hugo Wolf, to excite the curiosity of his parents, broke off his story and put “To be continued in my next.”  In his next letter he continues: 

     “I said to him:  ’Highly honoured master, for a long time I have
     wanted to hear an opinion on my compositions, and it would be....’

“Here the master interrupted me and said:  ’My dear child, I cannot give you an opinion of your compositions; I have far too little time; I can’t even get my own letters written.  I understand nothing at all about music (Ich verstehe gar nichts von der Musik).’

“I asked the master whether I should ever be able really to do anything, and he said to me:  ’When I was your age and composing music, no one could tell me then whether