Mr. Delrick lost no time in beginning, and as soon as the two men had sat down, he said, "You may well suppose, Mr. Lesa, that I had a reason for altering my plans and returning here."
"You surely would not do so otherwise," was the prudent reply.
"I have some news I think is so important that I wished to lose no time in giving it," continued Mr. Delrick. "I spent a day up on the mountain in order to deliver Vinzi's messages in person and to look up his friends there. First I called on your cousin, the worthy Lorenz Lesa, and his wife. These good people could not tell me enough about Vinzi, how beautiful he had made the summer with his music and songs, and how hard it is for both old and young to get along without him. That ought to please a father, hadn't it?"
The latter nodded assent.
"Then I visited the grandfather in the Tower. His joy was really touching when I gave him Vinzi's greetings. He said Vinzi had given him the most delightful hours he had had for many years with his playing and singing, and that it was his dearest wish to have the youngster sing as he departed on his last journey. His music must have been remarkable, not just frivolous wandering minstrel music, to have made such an impression on the aged man. What do you think?"
Vinzenz Lesa again nodded silently.
"When I asked him whether Father Silvanus knew much about music, my question roused the old man and he told me that Father Silvanus is really a great musician. He studied many years in a college at Rome. However, he sought solitude, and came up on the mountain to find it, and has lived there a number of years, doing much good. That convinced me I had discovered just the man I was searching for, one who could judge intelligently Vinzi's talent. So I went to Father Silvanus. As soon as he heard I came from Vinzi, he took a great interest in me. He asked if the boy was taking lessons and if his talent was being developed. I confessed it was on that account I had come to him, to hear what he thought about his talent. The good Father showed real enthusiasm, and exclaimed:
"'The boy is full of music! I never tried to teach him anything, only to entice it out of him.'
"He said he wanted to call my attention to two things; then I could judge for myself. The first melody that Vinzi composed, or at least the first that he had composed and played, had been so original and so beautiful that he himself often played it for his own pleasure. Next, Vinzi had set a tune to some words, and it had won all hearts. It was being sung by all the herd boys on the pastures, by the girls at their spinning-wheels, by the boys in stable and barn.
"'It is whistled and hummed by the people on the roads, who call it Our Song. No one knows whence it came, but it is the beloved property of the entire mountain. Isn't that sufficient?' asked the Father.