brings an important message."

"Admit him, then," the Emperor commanded. A few minutes later Wolf stood
before the sovereign, and, in Appenzelder's name, informed him in a tone
of sincere regret, yet with a certain degree of reserve, that the
performance of the choir boys that day would leave much to be desired,
for two of the best singers had not yet recovered.

"But the substitute, the admirable substitute?" Charles impatiently
interrupted.

"That is just what troubles us," Wolf replied uneasily. "The magnificent
new voice wishes to desert the maestro to-night."

"Desert?" cried the Emperor angrily. "A choir boy in the service of her
Majesty the Queen of Hungary! So there is still something new under the
sun."

"Certainly," replied Wolf with a low bow, still striving, in obedience to
the regent's strict command, not to reveal the sex of the new member of
the choir. "And this case is especially unusual. This voice is not in
her Majesty's service. It belongs to a volunteer, as it were, a native
of this city, whose wonderful instrument and rare ability we discovered.
But, begging your Majesty's pardon, the soul of such an artist is a
strange thing, inflammable and enthusiastic, but just as easily wounded
and disheartened."

"The soul of a boy!" cried Charles contemptuously. "Appenzelder does not
look like a man who would permit such whims."