New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-07-28
| I

IN len ir leave of Mr. Blake what my aston
iSbment when received letter from MN, pro9gh9
~. - messenger who had ridden all night ana all
da,, ia order 10 reach me that evening. Still more
ras surprised at the contents of the letter, when
ran thus:
| MY Dear Harry" Che had taken to calling me
Harry when was ILL: You once told me th3I
# eyer Won could serve me in any way you would Go
/ 81 GLADLY Little did | think that the time was at
hand when should ask your service, not for myself
alone but for my child Llora. For her sake, theh,
may of You 10 return TO England al once tins may
roach Won in time for the next steamer, ana Dfln5
back VaSarns. This favor ask OF YOU Is grea1
one but ask it under terrible necessity; G2 anu
see nv Llora and you will the more readily DeheNe
how fearful is the thought 10 me that she may ne
in danger and alas through me. At all costs
bring back Nasartas, ere 1t may DE 100 ae Ior we
whether We may live day or year Bring PACK
Vasartas and if / am not there o WORD was
erased 4" in Alexandria to meet you Will lea ave
name Of fathers love, TO carry out nave WIFI
ten to my bankers to place 5000 pounds to your
credit to defray expenses connected with the re-
TO save Llora's life bring back Vasartas i'm
plore you, and you will earn the heartfelt graft
ude of your true friend tooraor o Mss DR Rnsses
Devonshire House Lower Norwood. Please see her
and make that she is well. D. s.
read this letter over and over again, and each
time | read il | became but the more perpieAed as
10 IFS meaning With what earnestness IT. be
souebt me 10 bring back Vasartas. Four times
the request was repeated. and always the safety
Of Llora was pleaded. In what way could the
whereabouts Of mummy affect LlOra'S WellDelhg.
nay, her life? 1t was hopeless enigma once II
struck me that perhaps Mr.. Blake was overcome by
some strange hallucinatlon. -,
At length | recOected that he had taken with
him the mysterious strip of parchment as Ahmed
Ben Amen, who said TO be recovering, lived bat
a few miles of the track of his route. ! inquired
of the messenger who had brought mo the letter IL
Mr. Blake had visited the seer, and found that such
indeed was the case. This letter then must, ar,
gued, be due TO something Ahmed Ben Amen had
told him. | made vain GonIectnreS as 10
what that something might be- All that was
clear TO me that for some reason OF other
Vasartas must be brought back
A fortnight afterward | was back in England.
and a letter awaited me from Mr.. Bla ke's bankers
stating that 1000 pounds had been placed 10 my
credit | rather wondered why he had deemed 50
large a sum necessary.
At once made application 10 the authorities
/ for the return of Mr.. Blakes gilt, much to their
| horror and establishment mummy was even
more precious then than il would be now for Ram
eses H. and Sct and several other gentlemen now
OH view i'll the British Museum, had not been dis
covered. Besides, NasartdS was quite attractive
! looking in her way, and mummies are gen
orally hideous Rameses and Seti certainly are
The charms OF NasartaS had not Yet been dis
played 80 | argued that 10 give her up would not
be depriving the British public of its possessions,
| whereat the authorizes hemmed and hawed, and
| said they would consider the matter.
Meantime / had another missOn-to see Mr..
! Bla<e's daughter over whom hung, apparently
some mysterious doom. So | bctOOlI myself 10
Miss RuSSells high-claSs establishment for young
ladies. and expected 10 make acquaintance with
the usual type Of .uniiedged hobbledeh0y with
which generally associates the idea OF sch0Ol-
GIRL | was ushcred into Miss RusselIS own sitting
ROOM and smiled at the idea Of myself young
fellow of thirty, coming to pay sort OF fa,herly
or brotherly visit to girl at boarding school
Miss Russell herSelf-a prim lady of some three
score summers. in black silk dress aud a little
white shawl and a violet benbboned cap, be-
tween which and her face on each side were three
gray curls kept in place by little combS-MSs Rus
sell herself inspected me before She allowed me 10
see the object Of my visit Was a reLtiNe of Miss
Blake? No? An old acquaintance, perhaps
Had / any particular message 10 deliver as she
did not care for the young ladies' Of her select
establishment TO be upset by visitors? men
tally remarked that the equilibrium preserved Dy
the "a i'll young Indies must De uncertain, as n was
go easily upset but didn't dare 10 say so. slllt
cap with the violet ribbons and those three curls
either side OF the LADY lace hau prOduced some
thing akin to awe III me.
She asked several other questions, and finally
told me in so many words that she DIDN'T beneNe
| had come from Mr.. Blalle-that / was an I'M
mpostor in fact-a wolf snealIng into her fold Then
| hit on a bold plan, and tried what bit OF real
imposition would do It's astonishing how people
mistake the real for the counterfeit and the coun
terfcit for the reaiust 10 suit their inclinatlons
" By the way" | said, " will you be so very KIND
as TO let me have prospectus OF this splendid
establishment My aunt, Lady Begrave, has
three daughters who
That WAS enough 10 have gained an audience
with all the girls in the school, had ! wished H.
change came over the spirit of Miss Russell; she
became atfable 10 me directly and enlarged upon
the advantages which would be Teaped by my
aunts three daughters if under her charge The
aunt and daughters We're fictitious OF course,
but they gained my point Ll0ra blake was sun
Inoned LlOra Bake How shall / describe
her? cannot, and yet that first sight OF her re-
mains an imperishablc image OF beauty on the neg
ative of my memory She WAS petlte Dut7eX-
qusitely graceful, and certain hauteur about
the carriage Of her pretty head impressed
one with the idea that she was tall: Her face
was perfectly oval with small but delicatey chs
elIed features and finely pencilled brows ana her
eyes-tO what shall | compare them Know
not Once | plucked violet on when drop oil
dew had fallen, because somehow ~ reminded me
of LlOras eyes: yet the dew on the Nlolet was
fathOmable and her eyes were deeper imam uie SEA.
Her red gold hair gave the Idea OF sun rays that
tangible When my eyes first met hers she
was pale but the next instant a SOFT rosy nue. had
suffused all her face and throat. have taken
good many words 10 tell what, perhaps, any mod
erately far-seeing individual could sum up, ana
rightly, TOO, in three words" loved her
There the truth is out! and the knowledge Of
that truth came TO me pretty quickly, as quickly
as the soft pink rushed 10 Lloras checks, ana
do believe if Miss Russell had not remained IN
the room / should have impaired my knowledge
10 Llora herself then and there. AS IT was, we
talked commonplace Miss Russell doing the
largest share, and not forgetting TO remind me
every moment that my aunt had three daughters
When | returned 10 town found reply from
the authorities of the British Museum stating that
on no account could they return Nasartas 10 Me
glver; that now they had her they meant 10 Keep
her thought of Llora. for whose sake would ,,Ic
have made effort 10 transport ST Paufs or west
Minister Abbey 10 Egypt had il been necessary,
ana determined 10 see If money would pe OF
s na avail oo What foIl veT @@0 dT fsH
or course Mr.. Blake must have remembered thai
In these days money will accomplish anything,
especially In England, and that was why ne , haa
that If anybody offered the British public enough
Tor IL, they'd sell the throne itself for all ther