Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-27

had then no choice but to produce his proof
and when Mathilda finally had no choic
but to believe him he could no longer charg
her with Indifference.
She betrayed an alacrity and an indigna
ton on his behalf which were extremel,
dattering. He felt with gratifed vanitl
how immensely he had risen in her esteem
Unsophisticated though he was, he OBJ
served that she dressed with more care fo
their lessons and exerted all her arts t,
please in way which formerly would neve
have occurred to her. It was an intoxica
| tion of bliss to sit at her side on her sofa
while her hair grazed his cheek, and he
hand sometimes by some vagrant impuls,
stole into his, and her dark blue eyes sud
denly flashed upon him glance full of ten
| der meaning. She could put on a looI
| of such appealing innocence that Gunnal
had to exert all his self-restraint to keel
himself within bounds. A wild desire
seized him more than once to clasp her in
his arms aud cover her face with Kisses; but
at such moments bis fancy would conjure ur
the sweet face Of Ingerid with fearful eye:
and lips quivering in infantine distress, AND
the sense of his own baseness would over.
whelm him and sober his passion.
Gunnar saw Mr.. Norman almost daily
during these two years. He had an idea that
his chief watched him, and during his con.
slant unannounced rounds through the fac.
tory paid special attention to his work. He
saw HIM frequently speak to the foreman oi
his division; and twice, after these confer
ences, Gunnar was promoted and his pay in.
creased. When Mr.. Norman addressed him,
as he occasionally did, 1t was usually to ask
| him how be was getting on with his En-
glish. One day when the bell was rung and
all other hands were hurrying away, Gun
| mar was so engrossed in a delicate piece oi
work which had been entrusted to him that
he could not tear himself away. Suddenly,
as he looked up, he saw the chief standing
with his hands on his back, gazing at MIN.
As Gunnar paused Mr.. Norman took up the
piece of metal at which he had been filing
and examined it critically. "Look here,
Finn Varsko," he said, ''you are not bad
workman"
Gunnar blushed with pleasure. BE had
never heard Mr.. Norman praise anyone be-
fore.
"Have you any brothers," asked the
chief, after 3 while, as he laid down the
metal. 49,,
mo, have neither brothers nor sisters. "
"And your parents; are they dead?"
my mother is alive; but my father"
SIS dead. Yes, I supposed so. And you
had to go out into the world to carr, your
living. suppose you send part of your
earnings to your mother?"
eyes, as much as can spare"
That's right. I am glad you are good
son; that is what I like to hear"
About week alter this conversation, Mr..
Norman again paused in front of Gunnar's s
bench, "How much do you pay for your
bosrd?" he asked.
"Five dollars a week."
81 live alone"
''If you will take a room in nv house,
you may pay for it by extra work, which I
will give you; mostly copying and me-
chanical drawing. You'll then be able to
send S. more every week to your mother"
"But do you think, sir, that I'll be able
to do that kind of work?"
Leave that to me. know what I am
about"
"But, sir, don't think can accept it."
"Well, do as you like. You may give me
your answer tomorrow"
When he got home that night Gunnar
expected to be praised for his self-denial
in refusing the rich mans invitation, for he
hoped Mathilda would divine that it was
out of regard for her that he had foregone
SO great an advantage. But to his surprise
the young lady called him Ounce, and told
him almost in so many words that in look
ing out for his own interest he also served
hers. She felt apparently so sure of him
that she was more than willing to run the
risk ofeeparation. It was of herself she
was in doubt, but this doubt he could easily
dispel by great stroke of business like the
one which he bad confded to her. By
getting Mr.. Norman in his power (of
which he had a far better chance when
living in his house) he could make his
everlasting fortune; and she hoped sincerely
he would show that he had the grit of
man, and would allow no foolish molli-
coddle sentiment to interfere with his plan.
When he had ascertained beyond the
shadow of doubt that Mr.. Norman was the
same as Hans Mattson, then was his
opportunity. He must then threaten dis
closure and make the best terms possible
for pledging himself to silence.
Be it said to the credit of our hero, that
he rebelled against this project It was JUS
tice he wanted, Justice for his deluded, sor-
rowing mother, who had been cheated out
of her life's happiness by this mans duplic-
ity and cruelty. To make money out of
such transaction seemed to him sordid,
base, infamous. He came near quarreling
outright with Mathilda, who, with all her
cleverness, was not clever enough to dis
cover that she had made fatal mistake in
afording him so deep glimpse into her
hard and mercenary little heart. She had
to resort to tears and caresses in order to OBJ
literate the impression, whereupon she over
whelmed him with reproaches for having
thought her capable of the very scheme
which she had q moment 400 develoned
And he, poor fellow, kissed her and begged
her forgiveness for having misunderstood
her; and imagined that, very likely, Lis in
tellect was not sufficiently subtle to compre-
hend the fine gradations OF meaning con-
veyed in this exquisite creatures speech. He
was so preposterously happy at the privi-
leges she now granted him, that he could
not have found it in his heart to blame her,
if She had proposed to him systematic
transgression of the Ten Commandments.
beginning with the first and ending with
the tenth.
After this delightful reconciliation, Gun
mar accepted Mr.. Norman's offer and in
stalled himself in two pleasant rooms over
looking Lake Michigan. And Mathilda,
who, perhaps, overestimated her hold upon
his affections, resolved to postpone the exc
cution of her plan until more favorable
moment.
VIII.
1t required no great ingenuity on Gunnar's
part to discover Mr.. Normans object in
taking him into his house. Under the pre-
tense of giving him work, he was really
giving him lessons in mechanical drawing
and construcLinn of Yooob;ro, MI