Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1854-05-15
BY COVER & GOLDSMITH

/
picture he had finished, and went OF
taking his way towards the shop Of
vender Of pictures. The liece was Of
on which he had bestowed great pain.
: but he resolved to sell it for whatey,
! price was offered if only enough to pu
chase a single meal.
As he dragged himself with Difficult,
along the street, he passed a house
front of which crowd was assemble
On lnquiring the cause, Duhobret learr
ed that great sale was to take place.
Various works of art, collected durin
thirty years, by an amateur, whose ga
larry was the admiration of all Nurem
burgh, were to be sold at public aue
ton. the death of the owner having &C
Cured. ~
Struck with the hope of here findin
market for his painting, Samuel pres
sed through the crowd to the salesman
and by tho dint of entreaties, and tn
feelings of compositions awakene,
by his wretched aspect, prevaile,
on him to allow the piece to be Offered
at auction. The price at which he esti
mated its worth, was three thalers. Lee
it go, said the artist to himself; atht
money will procure me bread for week
If purchaser can be found"
The picture was examined and critici.
zed by many persons. The exhausted
and anxious voice of the auctioneer re-
peated sat three thalers-who will buy
it ? AT three thalers ~ There was no
response.
The stricken Samuel groaned, and bu-
ried his face III his hands. It was his
best work! The salesman called atten-
ton to its beauties. "Does it not seem -
ne said, "that the wind is really stirring
the foliage of these trees, and that the
leaves bend as they glitter in the sun /?
How pure and crystalline is the water
what life breathes in the animals that
come to drink at that stream and the
Abbey Of Newbourg, with its fine bull
dlngs, and the village in the distance,
&c."
TWENTY-FIVE thalers," said dry.
weak voice, and the sound startled Du-
hobret from the stupor of despair. He
raised himself on his feet to see who ut
.ered the blessed words. 1t was the pic
.ure-vender to whom he had first tho't
Of offering his work.
"Fifty thalers," cried another senor-
'us voice. The speaker was large
nan dressed in black.
GA hundred - responded the picture
iealer, evidently in considerable vexa-
ion. His adversary was equally
prompt.
"rwo hundred thalers p
"Three hundred ~
"Four hundred -
"a thousand !"
There was silence amcng the srec-
ators, and the crowd pressed eagerly a. /
ound the opposing h;'l-1---, +
The countenance of the picture deal
r show ed his agitation in spite of his
orced calmness. After a moments he
itation he cried, "Two thousand tha-
ers." I
"Ten thousand ~ responded the tall
nan quickly, while his face glowed with
anger.
aTwenty thousand y The picture
lealer grew as pale as death, and clench-
ID his hands violently. The tall man
N increased excitemedt, bid forty thou
sand. The look of triumph he cast up
On his adversary was too much for the
picture dealer, and bis eyes flashed rage;
he bid fifty thousand.
How was it in the meanwhile with
poor Samuel? He that passed dream,
and strove to awake himself, rubbed his
eyes, and pressed his hand to his fore
head. while the contest for his picture
went on.
Zone hundred thousand ~ shouted a
voice in accents of desperation.
"One hundred and twenty thousand
and the devil take thee, dog of picture
dealer.'
The discounted bidder disappeared in
the crowd, and the tall man, who had
proved victorious, was bearing away the
prize, when lean, crooked. emancipa-
ted, squalid being presented himself be-
fore him. Taking him for beggar, the
purchaser offered him small piece Of
money.
"If it please YOU" faltered Samuel,
"I am the painter of that picture"
The tall man was Count Dunkalsbach,
one of the richest noblemen in Germa-
ny. He tore out leaf from his pocket
book, wrote on it few lines, and hand
ed it to the artist.
"Here, FRIEND" he said, s'is the order
for the amount, which thou mayest re.
ceive at once. Adieu." And he pass
ed on.
Samuel finally persuaded himself tha
all was not a dream. He became the
owner of ON estate, and laid many plans
for living at his ease, and cultivating hi
favorite art as a pastime, when an ind
eestion ended his days. The picturetha
had brought fortune in so singular man
ner remained long in the possession Q
Count Dunkalsbach, and is now in tn
collection of the King of Bavaria.
MARRY-A Paragraph fo, Doubters
Jeremy Taylor says +: If you are 70
pleasure, marry; if you prize rosy health
marry. A good wife is heavens bes
Gift to man-his angel and minister {
graces innumerable-his gem of man
,,;rtuas his oasket of ;eWels-her yoic