Part 39 (2/2)

And gently stroking and caressing the offended b.i.+.c.he, he rose and seated himself in his velvet-covered _fauteuil_. His bright eye turned toward Gotzkowsky, and rested on the package the latter had in his hand. ”What have you there?”

”A plate and a cup,” said Gotzkowsky, seriously--”the first two pieces from my porcelain factory in Berlin.”

The king now rose from his seat and strode hastily toward Gotzkowsky.

”Give them here. I want to see what sort of potters'-ware you are going to impose upon me for porcelain.” With impatient hands he tore off the paper coverings, and so eagerly was he engaged with them, that he did not perceive that b.i.+.c.he and Apollo were already fighting for a sc.r.a.p of paper which he had thrown directly on b.i.+.c.he's nose, and which she consequently mistook for a delicate morsel, a prize worth a fight with Apollo. ”Forsooth, it is porcelain!” cried the king, as he drew out the gold-rimmed plate and the beautifully painted cup from their wrappings, and looked at them attentively; and as his eye rested on the painting of the cup, his features a.s.sumed a soft and sad expression. ”My house in Rheinsberg,” muttered he softly to himself--”a greeting from my happy days.”

”In the castle Rheinsberg, I first enjoyed the favor of being presented to your majesty,” said Gotzkowsky. ”Castle Rheinsberg is, therefore, to me a happy recollection, and it was for that reason selected to adorn the proof pieces of my porcelain factory.”

The king fastened a penetrating look upon him. ”You are playing me a trick--I don't like tricks, you must know. Therefore tell me the truth. Where did you get this porcelain? It is not from Meissen. The mark is wanting, and it is whiter and stronger. Where did you get it?”

”From Berlin, sire. I promised you, when you were in Meissen, that in future you should procure your porcelain from your own dominions, and I dare not forfeit my word.”

”And so you imitated the Almighty, and created a porcelain factory with the breath of your mouth?”

”Not with the breath of my mouth, but the breath of my money.”

”Tell me about it, and all the particulars,” said the king, still holding the cup in his hand, and looking at it attentively.

And Gotzkowsky related how, on his return from Meissen, he had accidentally made the acquaintance of a young man, who was pa.s.sing through Berlin on his way to Gotha, the duke having offered to advance him the capital necessary to found a factory for the making of porcelain according to a process of his own invention. The specimens exhibited convinced Gotzkowsky that this young man was fully acquainted with the secret of porcelain-making, and he had therefore immediately determined to forestall the Duke of Gotha.

Money had in this instance, as usual, exercised its charm, and nothing more was necessary than to outbid the terms agreed on with the duke.

A few thousand dollars more offered, and double purchase-money, had secured the secret of porcelain-making to Gotzkowsky, and bound the inventor down in Berlin for life.[1]

The arrangements necessary for the first attempts were made in one of the out-buildings of his house, and the articles offered to the king were the first-fruits of his factory. The king listened to him with intense interest, and when Gotzkowsky had finished, he nodded to him with a smile.

”The Marquis d'Argens is right. I wish myself I had many such citizens as you are. It would be a fine thing to be a king if all one's subjects were true men, and made it worth one's while to be to them a kind father and lord. You have fulfilled a favorite wish of mine; and let me tell you, I do not think you will call the porcelain factory yours long. I think it will soon be a royal factory.”

”I founded it for your majesty.”

”Good, good! you have given me a pleasure, I will give you one in return. Ask some favor for yourself. You are silent. Do you know of nothing to ask for?”

”Oh, yes, indeed,” said Gotzkowsky, ardently, ”I have a great favor to ask--have pity on the poor inhabitants of this town!”

The king frowned and pressed his lips angrily together. ”Do you know that I have generally forbidden any one to trouble me with these Leipsic jeremiades?”

”I know it, sire.”

The king looked at him with astonishment. ”And yet you do it?”

”Yes, sire, I do it because I relied on the kind, n.o.ble heart of my king, and because humanity bade me not to fear your majesty's anger, when it became a question of mercy to the oppressed.”

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