sleepy child would rise obediently, rubbing
his eyes, and master and pupil descended to the sitting-room, where
they would play together till the early hours of the morning--Pfeiffer
giving out a theme, and Beethoven extemporising upon it, and then
Ludwig in his turn giving the lead to Pfeiffer. Extemporisation would
be followed by duets, until the approach of day gave warning that it
was time to retire to bed. Such music as these two players made in
the still hours of the night was, no doubt, but rarely heard in the
district in which they lived, and on the other side of the open
window, in the early dawn of the summer morning, a small knot of
listeners frequently gathered, attracted by the unusual performance
proceeding within.

[Illustration: '"_Now then, Ludwig, time for practice!_"']

For about a year this curious mode of instruction continued, and
during this time Ludwig's education received a stimulus in the shape
of lessons in Latin, French, Italian, and Logic, given by a man named
Zambona. This Zambona was an eccentric personage, whose peculiarities
would appear to have been well adapted to the condition of things
prevailing in the Beethoven home. He apparently considered himself
qualified to fill a variety of posts, as he had acted as innkeeper,
chamber-porter at the Court, and book-keeper, in addition to being a
teacher of languages; but his worth was proved by the fact that
Beethoven made good progress under his tuition. Hitherto Ludwig's
playing had been confined to the pianoforte and violin, but at this
point a friendly hand was held out to him by an old friend of his
grandfather, named Van den Eeden, who for many years had held the post
of organist at the Court. 'Come to me, and I will teach you the
organ,' the kindly old musician said to Ludwig, and the boy's heart
leapt with pleasure at the generous offer. No doubt Van den Eeden saw
in the young player the signs of genius such as his old friend had
exhibited in no small degree in past years, and felt drawn towards him
in consequence. A new field was thus opened to Beethoven, and when, at
the end of a year, Van den Eeden resigned on account of ill-health,
and the post was given to Christian Neefe, Ludwig was happy in the
discovery of a new friend, who not only expressed his willingness to
carry on the instruction, but was quick to recognise the boy's
extraordinary talent. At this point of our story we get our first
glimpse of the fruits of Beethove