The Portland daily press., 1888-03-12

I Well, felt such love more than repaid me
for ali the trouble had with her from the
hour when / found her in the little fishing
hut ON the shore; and | told her so, and we
had a very enjoyable cry together.
/ was Sitting that night rocking myself
discontentedly by the low freight, for we
had already begun to eeonomise in the mat
ter of lamps. when Ralph come In from out
doors and sat down opposite. Nina was on
a sofa behind the screen, with Effie lying
back in her arms, telling stories In low
voice to the child, who had not yet outgrown
them. and marvelled a little to hear her and
think il was my bit of wild fire tanned.
Ralph sat looking in the fire and occasion
ally throwing on a handful Of cones and
watching the swift fragrant blaze they made
II suppose we shall have to go next week, :"
he said. "l've been over to look at taat
little fiat. suppose it will do. 1t isn't the
place for you"
"Oh, anywhere is the place for me, l said,
"that you can manage to put me inp'
-Four rooms in the heart of the town." he
said bitterly; no views from my window
but one OF squalid baek-yards; no river, no
great hemlock trees, no pine cones to burn on
open fires-just the barest getting along until
we can do better-if we ever cam"
WELL" I said, ut might be worse. We
can be very happy if we are only well and
YES he said, "yes. But it is hard to
leave all we have worked for these dozen
years, all that is dear to us; hard. too. to
have slipped by so nearly as | have done to
a vast fortune-as that would have been but
for-if it had not been-if had only seen
bnt there, there, the more one thinks the
worse it grows. The world Is all alike
Somebody else is slipping tolerably near a
fortune with less likelihood of getting it, by
what heard in the Office to-day. One of
those English fortunes falling due to some
unfndable heir"
Il thought the things were all frauds, "
said |. THE great fortunes in the Bank OF
England belonging to people over here"
ooh, they are; very likely said Ralph, alb
sently. "Ths wasn't one of that sort This
is the case of an absent heir-the son OF a
man named Strachan-Reginald Strachan-a
man of great wealth in London, an old East
India merchant, whose son married some
young singer or other and ran away with her
-one Rowena-Rowena Dysart. They have
been traced to this country, and it Is known
that child was born and named for her
mother. who died presently. And further
trace of him is lost. The case has just been
sent to our Office by the English solicitors.
If he is dead there is a fortune of some hum
dreds of thousands of pounds belonging to
that child, Rowena Strachan-
Suddenly there seemed to be an earthquake
in the room, the screen went over with a
thud, and Nina, still grasping Effie, had
sprung forward and stood between us, her
eyes ablaze, the color flushing her dark cheek,
her lips parted. "Rowena Dysart! SAID she
THAT is my mothers name! 1t is inside the
ring-she said my father had it put there
with his own-it is in her marriage lines:
And Reginald was her husband. It's all
about them and the father, the cruel, cruel
fathe- in the letters. Oh, you can prove it
all 1t isn't called Strachan, as you said {;
it's called Strawn, you know. And Nina
was her pet name. And that child is the
mistress Of fortune of hundreds of thous-
ands of pounds, and they're yours! All
yoursl Why, that's just as plain as day!'
She said, without regard to grammar.
"That's mew