usal fired Sebastian with the determination
to get possession of the coveted book at all costs. One moonlight
night, long after every one had retired, he decided to put into
execution a project he had dreamed of for some time.

Creeping noiselessly down stairs he stood before the bookcase and
sought the precious volume. There it was with the names of the various
musicians printed in large letters on the back in his brother's
handwriting. To get his small hands between the bars and draw the book
outward took some time. But how to get it out. After much labor he
found one bar weaker than the others, which could be bent.

When at last the book was in his hands, he clasped it to his breast
and hurried quickly back to his chamber. Placing the book on a table
in front of the window, where the moonlight fell full upon it, he took
pen and music paper and began copying out the pieces in the book.

This was but the beginning of nights of endless toil. For six months
whenever there were moonlight nights, Sebastian was at the window
working at his task with passionate eagerness.

At last it was finished, and Sebastian in the joy of possessing it for
his very own, crept into bed without the precaution of putting
away all traces of his work. Poor boy, he had to pay dearly for his
forgetfulness. As he lay sleeping, Christoph, thinking he heard sounds
in his brother's room, came to seek the cause. His glance, as he
entered the room, fell on the open books. There was no pity in
his heart for all this devoted labor, only anger that he had been
outwitted by his small brother. He took both books away and hid them
in a place where Sebastian could never find them. But he did not
reflect that the boy had the memory of all this beautiful music
indelibly printed on his mind, which helped him to bear the bitter
disappointment of the loss of his work.

When he was fifteen Sebastian left his brother's roof and entered the
Latin school connected with the Church of St. Michael at Lueneburg. It
was found he had a beautiful soprano voice, which placed him with the
scholars who were chosen to sing in the church service in return for
a free education. There were two church schools in Lueneburg, and the
rivalry between them was so keen, that when the scholars sang in the
streets during the winter months to collect money for their support,
the routes for each had to be carefully marked out, to prevent
collision.

Soon after he entered St. Michael's