For the
little man had put into his hand three purses full of gold, and had said,
"I am Counsellor Werter, favorite of his Majesty the Emperor. Your
assiduity in study has become known to me. Work on--for aught you know,
you may be on the high road."
Three years afterward, Durer entered the office of the Emperor's
secretary. Later, he became, himself, private secretary. Later still,
he received a barony and a handsome estate.--So much for the prophecies,
so much for the secret influence of the Counsellor Werter!
Durer was on the highway paved with gold;--but he forgot his father, and
he forgot his mother, too.
One day, when Counsellor Werter was going to court, he met Durer on the
staircase of the palace. He said to him,--
"Baron Durer, I sent yesterday, in your name, twelve thousand crowns to a
certain old shepherd in a village not far from Haerlem."
The Counsellor said this in rather a scornful voice; and he saw that
Baron Durer turned as red as the boy had done in the Valley of the
Bushes, on the evening when he was asked what his father's trade was.
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