"What may all this mean?" he asked, while his brow darkened. "What do you here, Miss Ellen, in this young man's study?"
"He may tell you that himself, Master Handel," answered the damsel, turning away her blushing face.
Joseph hastened to say, "I am ready to answer, dear master, for what we do."
"Open your mouth, and speak, then," said Handel sternly.
"You have done much for me, dear master," said Joseph with emotion. "When I came a stranger and penniless, you put me in the way of earning a support. You gave me instruction in music and singing, spending hours you might have given to doing something great."
"And does the fool think making a good singer was not doing something great—eh?"
"And I have tried to make a singer for you!" said the young man. "Will you hear her?" And he pointed to Ellen.
Handel, in his surprise, opened his eyes wide as he looked at the damsel.
"Yes—Ellen!" she repeated, coming close to him, and lifting her clear, hazel eyes to his face. "Now you know, Master Handel, what Joseph and I have been about, and for what I am here in his study."