sohn could decipher the manuscript only by degrees, having to
search the sheet to find the successive notes; but when he reached the
end he exclaimed, 'Now I will play it to you,' and this time he played
it through without a mistake. Upon this Goethe let him off, and
rewarded him with some kind words of praise. Thenceforth, until the
visit came to an end, Felix was called upon to play to the poet every
day, and the two became fast friends. The old man treated the boy as
if he were a son, laughed and joked with him, and was never so happy
as when he was near. It was altogether a delightful visit, and Goethe
would only part with Felix on the understanding that they should meet
again very soon.

The following summer brought a new happiness to Felix, for it had been
decided that the entire family should make a tour through Switzerland.
In those days a journey of such length was an undertaking of much
consequence, more especially when, as in this case, the family were
accompanied by the children's tutor and the doctor, in addition to
several servants. It was an essential part of the father's scheme of
education that his children's minds should be widened by travel, and
more particularly that they should make personal acquaintance with the
classic ground of history--advantages which wealth enabled him to
place at their command. It was with light spirits that the party set
out on their journey, Felix keenly alive to every fresh scene or
incident as it presented itself, and there were few of either that
failed to leave their stamp upon his impressionable mind. To his
insatiable curiosity must be attributed the adventure which befell him
on the very first day of their travel. They had to change carriages at
Potsdam, and when the horses had traversed three German miles of road
from that town Felix was suddenly missed, and a brief colloquy
elicited the melancholy fact that the boy had been left behind at
Potsdam. The tutor thereupon turned back in one of the carriages,
whilst the rest proceeded to the next stopping-place. In the course of
an hour he returned with the truant seated by his side, dusty and
footsore, but otherwise as fresh as when he had started. He had, it
appeared, strayed from the party at Potsdam, and returned to the
starting-place in time to see the carriages disappearing in the
distance enveloped in a cloud of dust. He began to run, but seeing
that he could not overtake them, he abated his speed, and determined