I touched at Salzburg, arriving soaked through by floods of rain, and spent the night there, and on the following day at last reached my place of destination—­Vienna.  I proposed to accept the hospitality of Kolatschek, with whom I had been friendly in Switzerland.  He had long since been granted an amnesty by Austria, and had, on my last visit to Vienna, called on me and offered me the use of his house, to avoid the unpleasantness of an inn, in the event of my returning for a longer stay.  For reasons of economy alone—­and these at the time were very urgent--I had willingly accepted this offer, and now drove direct with my hand luggage to the house described.  To my surprise I at once discovered that I was in an exceedingly remote suburb, practically cut off from Vienna itself.  The house was quite deserted, Kolatschek and his family having gone to a summer resort at Hutteldorf.  With some difficulty I unearthed an old servant, who seemed to think she had been warned of my arrival by her master.  She showed me a small room in which I could sleep if I liked, but was apparently unable to provide either linen or service of any kind.  Greatly discomfited by this disappointment, I first drove back into town to wait for Kolatschek at a certain cafe in Stephan’s Platz, which, according to the servant, he was likely to visit at a particular time.  I had been sitting there a good while, making repeated inquiries for the man I expected to see, when suddenly I saw Standhartner come in.  His extreme surprise at finding me there was intensified, as he told me, by the fact that he had never in his life entered this cafe.  It had been quite a special coincidence that had brought him there on that day and at that time.  On being made aware of my situation he at once became furious at the idea of my living in the most deserted part of Vienna when I had such pressing business in the city, and promptly offered me his own house for temporary quarters, as he and all his family would be away for six weeks.  A pretty niece, who, with her mother and sister, lived in the same house, was to see to all my wants, including breakfast, etc., and I should be able to make use of the whole place with the greatest freedom.  He took me triumphantly home with him at once to a deserted dwelling, as the family had already gone to their summer resort at Salzburg.  I let Kolatschek know, had my luggage brought in, and for a few days had the pleasure of Standhartner’s society and easy hospitality.  I realised, however, from information given me by my friend, that my path was beset with new difficulties.  The rehearsals for Tristan und Isolde, which had been planned in the spring to take place about this time (I had arrived in Vienna on 14th August), had been postponed indefinitely as Ander, the tenor, had sent word that he had injured his voice.  On hearing this I at once concluded that my stay in Vienna would be useless; but I knew that no one would be able to suggest any other place where I could employ myself profitably.