The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-08-28
THE INDIANA STATE SENTINEL WEDNESDAY AUGUST %

| Seti, and several other gentlemen now on
view in the British museum, had not been
! discovered. Besides Vasartas was quite
attractive-looking in her own way. and
mummies are generally hideous. Ram
eses and Seti certainly are.
The charms of Vasartas had not yet been
| displayed so / argued that TO give her up
would not be depriving the British public
OF its possessions, whereat the authorities
hemmed and hawed, and said they would
consider the matter.
Meantime had another mission-to see
| Mr.. Blake's daughter, over whom hung,
apparently, some mysterious doom. So L
| betoOk myself to Miss RusselPs high-class
establishment for young ladies, and ex-
pected to make acquaintance with the
usual type of unfledged hobbledehoy with
which one generally associates the idea of
a schoolgirl. l was ushered into Miss
Russell's own sitting-room, and l smiled
at the idea of myself, a young fellow OF
| thirty, coming to pay sort OF fatherly or
| brotherly visit to a girl at a boarding
| school.
Miss Russell herself-a prim lady of
/ some three-score summers, in q black silk
! dress and little white shawl and a violet
| beribboned cap, between which ana her
/ face on each side were three gray curs,
! kept in place by little combs-Miss Rus
! sell herself inspected me before she al
| lowed me to see the object of my visit.
| Was | a relative OF Miss Blake? No. An
acquaintance, perhaps? Had L any par
! ticular message to deliver, as she did not
! care for the young ladies of her establish
! ment to be upset by visitors? / mentally
remarked that the equilibrium preserved
/ by the said young ladies must be uncer-
/ tain, as it was so easily upset, but l didn't
/ dare to say so. That cap with the violet
/ ribbons and those three curls on either
side OF the lady's face had produced some
! thing akin to awe in me.
| She asked several other questions, and
/ finally told me In so many words that she
! didn't believeI mad come from Mr.. Blake
/ that | was an impOstOr in fact-a wolf
/ sneaking into her fold. Then hit on a
! bold plan, and tried what a bit OF real
/ imposition would do. It's astonishing
| how people mistake the real for the
counterfeit and the counterfeit for the
real-just TO suit their inclinations.
BY the way" l said, will you be so
very kind as to let me have prospectus
/ of this splendid establishment. My
aunt, Lady Belgrave, has three daughters
/ who"
That was enough to have gained an
audience with all the girls in the school,
/ had | wished it. 4 change came over
| the spirit of Miss Russell; she became
affable to me directly. and enlarged upon
1 the advantages which would be reaped
/ by my aunts three daughters if under
! her charge. The aunt and daughters
/ were fictitious, of course, but they gained
my point. Lora Blake was summoned.
/ Llora Blake! How shall | describe herr
l can not, and yet that first sight of
| her remains an imperishable image OF
/ beauty on the negative of my memory.
! She was petite, but exquisitely graceful,
and a certain hauteur about the carriage
| OF her pretty head impressed one with
the idea that she was tall. Her lace was
perfectly oval, with small but delicately
chiseed features and finely penciled
/ brows. and her eyes-to what shall | COM
pare them? know not. Once plucked
a violet on which drop of dew had fallen,
/ because somehow it reminded me OF
! Llora's eyes; yet the dew on the violet
was fathomable, and her eyes were deeper
than the sea. Her red gold hair gave the
idea of suns rays that were tangible.
/ When my eyes first met hers she was
/ pale, but the next instant a soft ROSY hue
had sutfused all her face and throat.
have taken good many words to tell
what perhaps, any moderately far-seeing
/ individual could sum up, and rightly, too,
in three words-"I loved her"
There, the truth is out! and the knowl-
edge of that truth came 10 me pretty
quickly, as quickly as the soft pink rushed
to Llora's cheeks, and do believe if Miss
Russell had not remained in the room I
should have impaired nay knowledge to
/ Llora herself then and there. AS it was,
we talked commonpiaces, Miss Russell do
ing the largest share, and not forgetting
to remind me every moment that my aunt
had three daughters.
When | returned to town found re-
/ ply from the authorities of the British
museum stating that on no account could
they return Vasartas to the giver; that
now they had her they meant to keep her.
thought Of Llora, for whose sake would
| have made an effort to transport st. Paul's
or Westminster abbey to Egypt had it
been necessary, and determined to see
ii money would be of any avail. What a
fool had been not to offer it at the very
! firstl OF course Mr.. Blake must have re-
membered that in these DAYS money will
accomplish anything, especially In
England, and that was why he had placed
5000 10 ny credit | do believe that il
anybody offered the British public enough
for it, they'd sell the throne itself, for all
their professions of loyalty. l therefore
offered Mr.. Blake's $4,000 for what he
had given freely. They haggled over it,
whereupon l tried the effect of another
thousand, and the business was done
Vasartas was no longer in possession oil
the British public.
OF course decided to start at once, but
/ first went to see Llora once more, on the
plea that she might wish to send a message
10 her father. / saw Miss Russell, but
alas not Llora. She had caught bad
cold and was feverish. The doctor was not
alarmed, though he could not say for GER
tain II it was only mere cold. Ny mem
DRY reverted to those words in the post
script of Mr.. Blake's letter, "Please see
her and be sure that she's we'll" Had Mr.
Blake any reason for saying this? No, as
suredly not. How could he know that his
daughter would catch cold nearly month
after he wrote? 1t was mere coinci-
dence, and yet he had said plainly enough
that Llora's life was in danger, because
Nasartas was in England. The construc.
ton / had put upon this was, that per
haps some Arab, Ahmed Ben Anan him
self, in all probability, had vowed venge
ance II the mummy was not returned IL
its rightful possessors. Llora's cold could
not have any connection with the matter
Nevertheless, piled Miss Russell with my
fictitious aunts and cousins, and extracted
OF Llora 10 Gibraltar or Alexandria.
Next day l left England with Vasartai
for Llora's sake, though for Llora's sake