Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1894-05-24
CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.
"What must happen to me nowg'
meditated. 'Here in this strange city
am l, unattended, unprotected! My
conscience will not permit me to stop
here alone"
A week went on, with no further It'd
ings from my uncle save one letter, in
which he said that it had been decided
to lay poor Vera at rest in Esther's family
plot.
Within ten days Ivan came home. He
was attired out of severest respect for
his departed wife, and as tried to con-
sole him during our conversation the
tears rushed into his eyes and he cried as
if his heart would break. Endeavor as
might my words seemed to afford him
no soothing. Upon the following day
and for week longer he steadily refused
to go to his business Office, declaring that
life had lost all attraction for him now
that poor Vera had gone.
The season flew by. Olefs letters
came and mine went. l had entered a
musical college and arranged for term
of vocal instruction; and before | real
lied it May month was upon us. Nat.
ure had put on Der warm, green robes.
Tie flowers never smelled sweeter, the
leaves never looked brighter-and but
for the absence of the music Of Olef's
dear voice the warble of the bird notes
would never have rung out in more de-
lghtful harmony.
had already begun to look for an
other letter from Olef. remarked to
Ivan that it was quite time And l also
told him that upon receipt of that let
ter should return to Stockholm, hav-
ing informed Olef to that end.
What was my surprise when Ivan at
once began to wean me from the notion
of going home!
"Why, do you know" he exclaimed,
"that l had fully made up my mind to
ask you to write Olef to pay us visit
that he might be enabled to go back
with you? like Olef very much. He
seems such a capital good fellow, and l
am heartily glad that you have set your
hearts one upon the other"
thanked him for his kind regard, al
though not without blushing bit, I
must confess.
"And now," he resumed, "let me offer
you bit of advice Olef is getting
ready to enter the profession of law, is
he nct?"
"He has graduated and been admitted
to the bar" l replied.
"Quite to my notion, then. If am
not mistaken your dot, left to you by
your father, Grefve Melin, amounted to
one hundred thousand kronor-about
twenty-eight thousand dollars in Amer
ican money"
| Eyes" was my answer, as his words,
"Not half as charming as her dot" ut
tered upon the night of my arrival, flew
back to my memory, and still l could
not connect their meaning with the pres
ent, because Ivan seemed so interested in
Olef's and my future.
"Could your fortune be converted into
ready money!" he bluntly asked.
"It is invested in securities which
might be negotiated" returned.
Very good. Of course you want tc
double your fortune. 1t would be but
quite natural that you should. Olef, be
ing barrister, can quite readily accom-
plish the preliminaries for you. If yor
will write to him and instruct him tt
fetch over-well, say, twenty Thousand
dollars of that money, |, through my
brokerage Office, can invest it for you il
New York Stock Exchange listed Sc
curities that will yield you 100 per cent
profit. In fact, know of such an op
portunity today. Do as l advise you ant
will make your fortune double itsel
and give Olef a permanent place as man
ager in my office. His legal learning will
stand him in to great advantage and h,
will find twice the amount of profit il
stocks that he would in the law"
Being only a woman of inexperience
|, of course, gave harbor to Ivans nd
vice. Twenty thousand invested woult
yield me an additional twenty Thousand
besides giving Olef a start in life
How happy we could be upon our littl
fortune.
And so by the outgoing steamer sen
Olef letter, instructing him to carr
out Ivan's suggestion.
l must mention here that for fort
night past had experienced the strar
gest sensations-a feeling of langor steal
ing upon me and spells of mornin
dreariness. At times my limbs woul
seem stiff, almost dead. My back ache
and felt giddy. Twice | recall havin
stumbled over the floor when those dizz
waves swayed my head. looked at m
skin. 1t was growing parched, colol
less, lifeless! could not make it out
My exercise and habits were regular
My mode of living was perfect. too
plenty of baths, fresh air and goot
wholesome food; and yet grew weake
day by day, almost tottering at time
1t seriously affected my vocal power
four or five notes dropped out of my rel
lister, top and bottom. ! consulted I'll