"He will not feel at home here in the garret.I amvery happy that the singing master has invited him to staywith him.And yet，"cried the mother，"it is awfully sadthat one should be so poor that one's child cannot live inhis own home!"
"Don't say those words to Peer!"said Grandmother."You don't understand him as I do."
"But he must have food and drink，no matter howfine he has grown，and he shall hot go hungry so long as Ican move my hands.Madam Hof has told me that he caneat his dinner twice a week with her，now that she is welloff.She has known both prosperity and hard times.Shehas told me herself that one evening，in the box at the the-ater where the old danseuses have a place，she felt sick.The whole day long she had only had water and a caraway-seed bun，and she was ill from hunger，and very faint.'Water!Water!'cried the others.'No!Some food!'shebegged.'Food!'She needed something nourishing，andhad not the least need of water.Now she has her ownlarder and a wellspread table."
Peer was still one bundred and twenty miles away，but happy in the thought that he would soon be in the city，and at the theater，with all his dear old friends，whom nowhe would know how to value.Happiness sang and resound-ed within him and all about him;there was sunshine every-where，in this happy time of youth，the time of hope andexpectation.Every day he grew stronger;his good spiritsand his color returned.But Madam Gabriel became verymoved as the time for departure drew near.
"You are on your way to greatness;and there will bemany temptations，for you are handsome-that you havebecome in our house.You are natural，just as I，and thatwill help when temptations come.One must not be too sen-sitive or unruly sensitive like Queen Dagmar，who on Sun-day laced her silk sleeves and then had pangs of conscienceover such a minor thing;it should take more than that toaffect one.I would never have grieved as Lucretia did.What did she stab herself for?She was pure and honest;she knew that，and everybody in the town knew that.Whatcould she do about the misfortune which I won't talk aboutbut which you at your age understand perfectly well?Soshe gave out a shriek and took the dagger!That wasn'tnecessary at all.I would not have done it，and neitherwould you;we are both natural people;one should benatural at all times，and that you will continue to be inyour artistic career.How happy I shall be to read aboutyou in the papers!Perhaps sometime you will come to ourlittle town and appear as Romeo，but I shall not be thenurse then.I shall sit in the parquet and enjoy myself."
Madam had a lot of washing and ironing done theweek he went away，so Peer could go home with a cleanwardrobe，as he had had on his arrival there.She drew anew，strong ribbon through his amber heart;that was theonly thing she wanted as a"remembrance souvenir，"butshe did not get it.
From Herr Gabriel he received a French lexicon，theone he had used during his school hours，and it hadmarginal notes in Herr Gabriel's own hand.MadamGabriel gave him roses and quaking grass.The roseswould wither，but the grass would keep all winter if itwasn't put into the water but was kept in a dry place.And she wrote a quotation from Goethe on a kind of albumleaf：Umgang mit Frauen ist das Element guter Sitten.She gave a translation of it："Companionship with womenis the foundation of good manners.Goethe."
"He was a great man!"she said."If he had onlynot written Faust，for I don't understand it.Gabriel saysso，too."
Young Madsen presented Peer with a not badly donedrawing he had made of Herr Gabriel hanging from thegallows，with a birch rod in his hand，and the inscrip-tion，"A great actor's first conductor on the road of sci-ence."Primus，the Dean's son，gave him a new pair ofslippers，which the Deaness herself had made，but solarge that Primus could not fill them for a year or two yet.Upon the soles was written in ink，"A reminder of a sor-rowing friend.Primus."
Herr Gabriers'entire household accompanied Peerto the train.
"It shall not be said that you left us sans adieu!"said Madam，and she kissed him at the railway station.
"I am not bashful!"she said."When one does not doa thing secretly，one can do anything!"
The signal whistle blew-young Madsen and Primusshouted hurrahs;the"small stuff"joined in with them;Madam dried her eyes and waved with her pocked hand-kerchief;Herr Gabriel said only the word，"Vale!"
The villages and stations flew by.Were the peoplein them as happy as Peer?He thought of that，praised hisgood fortune，and thought of the invisible golden applethat Grandmother had seen lying in his hand when he wasa child.He thought of his lucky find in the gutter and，above all，of his new-found voice and of the knowledgehe had now acquired.He had become altogether anotherperson.He sang inwardly with happiness;it took greatself-control for him to keep from singing aloud in the car.
Now the towers of the city appeared，and the build-ings began to show themselves.The train reached the sta-tion.There stood Mother and Grandmother，and someonewith them，Madam Hof，well bound，Court BookbinderHof's wife，born Frandsen.Neither in want nor in pros-perity did she forget her friends.She had to kiss him ashis mother and his grandmother did.
"Hof could not come with me，"she said;"he ishome at work，binding a set of collected works for theking's private library.You have your good luck， and Ihave mine.I have my Hof and my own fireside cornerwith a rocking chair.Twice a week you are to eat withus.You will see my life at home;it is a completeballet!"