"A shrug from the driver of the hearse was the only response.
"'Whom have you got there, then?' continued she.
"'A band-master,' replied the other.
"'A musician? they're a poor lot; then I've no more money to look for to-day. It is to be hoped we shall have better luck in the morning.'
"To which the driver said, with a laugh: 'I'm devilish thirsty, too—not a kreutzer of drink-money have I had.'
"After this curious colloquy the coffin was dismounted and shoved into the top of the grave already occupied by the two paupers of the morning; and such was Mozart's last appearance on earth."
To-day no stone marks the spot where were deposited the last remains of one of the brightest of musical spirits; indeed, the very grave is unknown, for it was the grave of a pauper.
IV.
Mozart's charming letters reveal to us such a gentle, sparkling, affectionate nature, as to inspire as much love for the man as admiration for his genius. Sunny humor and tenderness bubble in almost every sentence. A clever writer says that "opening these is like opening a painted tomb.... The colors are all fresh, the figures are all distinct."
No better illustration of the man Mozart can be had than in a few extracts from his correspondence.