with honest people, he certainly will be a noble fellow.”  She made him talk, and found him intelligent; she liked intelligent men.  She made him sing, assured herself that he had a voice; she adored music.  She questioned him; he told her all his misery, and while he talked she said to herself:  “No, I do not mistake; he has a future before him; in two or three years he will be superb.  Three years is not long:  the gardener who grafts a young tree is often condemned to wait longer than that.”  When he had ended his narrative, she told him that she was in want of a secretary, that she had had several, but that she had soon tired of them, on account of their not having the desired qualifications; she asked him if he would like to accept the position.  He replied only by pointing his finger to his father, who was smoking his pipe on the door-step.  A moment later she was closeted with Jeremiah Brohl.

She at once proposed to him to buy his son; he dropped his arms in astonishment, then felt delighted and charmed.  He declared, at first, that his son was not for sale; and then he insinuated that if ever he did sell him he would sell him dear; he was, according to his opinion, merchandise of the best quality, a rich and rare article.  He raised his demands ridiculously; she exclaimed; he affirmed he could not put them lower, that he had his terms, and that he always sold at a fixed price.  They disputed a long time; she was about to give up; he yielded, and they ended by making the transaction.  She sent for Samuel and said to him:  “My boy, you belong to me—­I have bought you for cash.  You are satisfied with the bargain, are you not?”

He was stupefied to learn that he had a commercial value; he never had suspected it.  He wanted very much to know what he was worth; but the princess was discreet upon the subject, and desired that he should believe that he had cost her a fabulous sum.  After reflection, he made his conditions; he stipulated that he should belong to himself for three years, which time he would employ in study and in satisfying a multitude of curious longings.

She readily consented, as that had been her own intention:  it would take fully three years before the fruit was ripe and ready to be served at the princely table.  She gave him instructions and advice, all bearing the stamp of a superior mind; she understood the world, the state of public affairs, and physiology, all that can be learned, and all that cannot be learned.  Thus Samuel Brohl set out, his pocket well filled, for the University of Prague, which he soon left to settle at Heidelberg, whence he went to Bonn, then to Berlin, then to Paris.  He was restless, he did not know what he wanted, but wherever he went he studied semiquavers, naturals, and flats; it was part of the conditions.