Mother and Grandmother bardly had an opportunityto talk to Peer，but they looked at him，and their eyesshone with delight.Then he had to take a cab to get tohis new home at the singing master's.They laughed andthey cried.
"What a wonderful man he is!"said Grandmother.
"He still has such a kind face，just as when he wentaway，"said Mother;"and that he will keep in thetheater."
The cab stopped at the singing master's door，butthe master was out;his old servant opened the door andshowed Peer up to his room，where there were portraits ofcomposers on the walls and a white plaster bust stoodgleaming on the stove.The old man，a little dull，buttrustworthiness itself，showed him the drawers in the bu-reau and hooks for him to hang his clothes on，and saidhe was very willing to shine his boots.Then the singingmaster arrived and welcomed Peer with a hearty hand-shake.
"This is the apartment!"he said."Make yourself athome.You may use my piano in the living room.Tomor-row we will hear how your voice is.This is our castlewarden，our housekeeper."And he nodded to the old ser-vant."All is in order.Carl Maria von Weber，on thestove there，has been whitened in honor of your coming;he was terribly dirty.But it isn't Weber that's up there，after all;it is Mozart.Where did he come from?"
"It is the old Weber，"said the servant;"I carriedhim myself to the plasterer，and I brought him home againthis morning."
"But this is a bust of Mozart，and not a bust ofWeber."
"Pardon me，sir，"said the servant;"it is the oldWeber，who has been cleaned.The master does not rec-ognize him now that he has been whitened."The plasterercould verify that.
But at the Plasterer's he got the answer that Weberhad been broken to pieces，and so he had given himMozart instead;it was all the same on a stove.
The first day Peer was not to sing or play，but whenour young friend came into the parlor，where the pianostood，and the opera Joseph lay open upon it，he sang"My Fourteenth Spring，"and sang with a voice that wasas clear as a bell.There was something so sincere aboutit，so innocent，and yet so strong and full.The singingmaster's eyes were wet with tears.
"That's the way it should be，"he said，"and it willbe even better.Now we shall close the piano.You needto rest."
"But I have promised my mother and grandmother tovisit them tonight."And he hurried away.The settingsun shone over the home of his childhood;the bits of glassin the wall sparkled;it was like a diamond castle.Motherand Grandmother were waiting for him in the garret，a goodmany steps up，but he flew up，three stairs at a time，reached the door，and was received with kisses and em-braces.
It was clean and tidy there in the little room.Therestood the stove，the old bear，and the chest of drawers withthe hidden treasure from his hobby-horse days;on the wallshung the three familiar pictures，the King's portrait，apicture of our Lord，and Father's silhouette，cut out ofblack paper.It was an excellent side view of him，saidMother，but it would have been more like him if the paperhad been white and red，for that he was.A wonderfulman!And Peer was the very picture of him.
There was much to talk about，much to tell.Theywere to have a headcheese，and Madam Hof had promisedto visit them later in the evening.
"But how is it that those two old people，Hof andMiss Frandsen，ever thought of getting married?"askedPeer.
"It has been in their thoughts these many years，"saidMother."You know，of course，that he was married.Well，he did it，they say，to irritate Miss Frandsen，wholooked down on him when she was in her high and mightystate.His wife was wealthy，but she was very old，butlively，and on crutches!She could not die;he was waitingfor it.It would not have surprised me if，like the man inthe story，he had every Sunday put the old lady out in theopen air，so that our Lord could see her and remember tosend for her."
"Miss Frandsen sat quietly by and waited，"saidGrandmother."I never believed she would attain this.Butlast year Madam Hof died，and so Frandsen came to be thewife in the house."
At that moment in came Madam Hof.