St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-06
TOLD IN A DREAM.

''It was madness and folly?" And as
Julian Blair gave utterance to this .ex-
clamation he brought his hand down
upon his desk with tremendous force.
The young man in his excitement
rose from his chair and paced the floor
of his office. Il
II made fool of myself" he said,
bitterly. 'Here am, a young lawyer,
without practice, in n little country
town. and with no hope of lettering my
condition. Instead of waiting patiently
for something to turn up have had the
audacity to fall i'll love with the wealth.
lest heiress in the place, and tonight |
forever diSgraced myself by asking her
to marry me. Tomorrow | am to see her
father. There can be but one result. Mr..
Howard is a millionaire. He will ask me
about my property and my prospects
Well, L have about s. in my pocket and
| owe $500. The old gentleman will re-
gard me as a fortune hunter and re-
quest me to discontinue my visits. Yet,
the Lord knows L love Alice, and l
would devote my life to her."
Blair looked around the Office and
took survey of his scanty possessions.
a hundred law bOOkS-thiS was all.
at will be useless" he said, ito tell
a man like Mr.. Howard that L will wait
for his daughter. He will simply show
me the door, and all will be over"
The young fellows frank and manly
! face wore a look of panied embarraSS-
ment. He had taken leap in the dark
and was already regretting his haSty
action.
The town clock struck the hour of
midnight, and Blair retired to his
chamber adjoining his Office. and made
an effort to sleep Off his trouble.
For some time he was wide awake.
His eyes burned and his brain was in a
whirl. At last he fell into feverish
and disturbed slumber.
| In the course of the night strange
| thing occurred. Just how it happened
| he did not clearly understand, but he
| had late visitor, who introduced him.
self as a lawyer from London.
| The stranger made prOfuSe apologies
| for his untimely visit.
"Mr. Blair" he said, II will not de-
tain you with any preliminaries. You
| one OF your uncleS who ran away from
| home when mere boy, and settled in
! Liverpool. Your uncle was remarkably
lucky. He found friends, went into
| business, and in the course of time
made a fortune. He died month ago
and left you s500,00O."
Julian proceeded to ask for further
| information, but the London lawyer.
pleasantly remarked that good news
would keep.
II must leave in half an hour for
New York." he said, ''but you may ex-.
| pect me back ina week or so, and the
| papnccarv orronuonnptc will ha nn,o'
pleted for placing you in possession of,
your inheritance"
| With this the strange visitor vanished,
and Julian Blair, as he raised himself
on his elbow and looked about the room
asked himself whether he was awake or,
dreaming.
A sudden drowsiness Overcame him,
and when he again opened his eyes it
was morning. s-,..=. p.
WAS it a dream?" he cried, as he.
dressed himself. mo. it is impossible.
remember his features distinctly, and
every word he said, and even the tones
of his voice. Thank God! 1t was no,
vision; it was reality" -
Julian, found, after making his
toilet, that he was still little feverish,
with strange fullness in his head. but
glance at the mirror showed that he
was looking unusually well.
One thing startled him not a little in
the course of the morning. After brief
interview with one of the bankers of the
town, he walked out Oh the street with
$500 in his pocket.
A sudden doubt struck him as he
reached the sidewalk. Had he made a
mistake in telling the banker of his
| good fortune? Ii the whole thing was
only dream, as he sometimes suspected,
he had done a very bad thing.
| "PShaWE' he said to himself, 81 am
sick and nervous. How can it be a
dream?''
By degrees his confidence was re-
stored, and latter in the day when he
saw Mr.. Howard his manner was we'll
calculated to impress the millionaire.
He told the story of his legacy, and the
rich man took him by the hand and told
him that no man in the wide world
would suit him better as a son-in-law.
A week passed away delightfully."-.
Blair found himself the lion of the
town, but he spent most OF his leisure
time with his atfianced.
One morning the young lawyer arose,
cool and clear-headed, without a trace
of fever. He looked back upon the
He no longer had any belief in the visit
OF the man from London. 1t was a
dream, and nothing else.
Il am in a disgraceful fix" he
grOaned. II have lied to Mr.. Howard
and to Alice. [ have borrowed money
under false pretenses. Nothing will
ever convince people that l am not a
Swindler."
AS the days rolled on Julian grew
thin and pale. He could not bring him.
self to the point of confession to Mr..
Il Howard tno OF
his obligations were coming due. There
was apparently no way out of his treu-
BILE. The thought OF suicide took pos
session of his mind, and he began to
nerve himself for the deed.
| X
| The card in Julian's hand bore the
address of Henry Morley, Solicitor,
Middle Temple, London, and as the
owner of the card was ushered into the
office the young lawyer looked at him in
blank surprise.
1t did not take long for Mr.. Morley to
state his business.
MY young FRIEND" he said rather
pompously. lit is genuine pleasure to
me to be the bearer of good tidings.
have been two weeks III this country
looking you up. Your uncle, John
Blair, died recently at Liverpool, where
ne left large estate, and there is cool
nall million Tor you"
us it another dream?" whispered
Julian.
II don't understand" said the En-
gliShman, somewhat mystifed. "This
is no dream; it is business
Then he went OH in his clear matter
of-fact way to make everything clear
"YOu have never called on me before,
have your" asked Julian.
Certainly not" replied the visitor.
81 have just found you, and it was no
easy matter, l can tell yOu.''