New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-21
A MANUSCRIPT.

the middle of Europe. and has the ancient city OF
Prague for It's capital. The other has no bound
arv AT ALL nor any fixed area for Il Is coexten-
sive with the civilized world. Its capital may
perhaps be said To be the Quarter Letip %
Paris a town within town: but even this u u''-
certain As for It's Inhabitants. IT Is genera"y
agreed that they are singular easy-soi"h
good-tempered race OF men. seldom very he"N"s
weighted with the worlds goods. whose WORST
fault perhaps Is the lack OF proper respect io'
those who are They are also sometimes accuseo
OF being idle but that Ia because they hre o'''"
seen out OF work. AS n matter OF i"c'' ""
classes Of men work harder or for lower wage
Axel Hcrmen n young N"rwesah' WIS
denizcn OF Swedish Bohemia. lie lved III S'"c"-
holm In n little street of the DrottnihE '''""'
7, uas,ot n very good street and the room he
occupied was -four stair-nshs up. as the
Swcdes say-,hat is on the fourth s'ors an"
Under TIE tiles. Literature Is SOM vha' uhre-
muneratve profession anywhere. but IN S"euen
the reading public Is so small ana so niue give"
10 buying books that young author not YET ar
rive may esteem himself fortunate II ne earns
enough evc, N nav the rent Of little attic
perched I'D among the sparrows ana the TOM
cats
To be obliged to eat sleep and live IN the
same room 1t may be noted, Is not rechoheu
hardship In Stockholm. for II may safeiy DE sal"
that nine bedrooms out or ten-not omi'ins
those OF the well-to-do classes-are cohVertioe
into sitting rooms during the day. There Is no
alcove for the bed. with chintz curtains before
t. as is so often the case In France. Inc ped
becomes beautiful sofa. and the toilette
ur,,,rc-tab,c with vases upon IT, decorative even
for n boudoir.
The KEYNOTE of the room was books: they were
scattered evervwhere-along the walls and
hookshclves On the window-slll. blocking out the
lgh, crawling about the table on their faces
among the pipestems n few even on the ioor'
and one under the leg Of the table doing It's best
70 make II stand four-square on the warped
boarding The appointments OF the room were
l,,nltcd ~ the strictly necessary-the inevitable
sofa bed. the reversible dressing-tnble. big
writing desk hcaped with papers an armchair
with one Of It's legs somewhat at fault. and
few anc-bottomed chairs--useful pieces OF fur
niture. no doubt but certainly not ornamental
On n certain morning not so very long ago the
occun,er ~ these ur prcpossessing premises was
sitting on the edge 81 the SOLE with his elbows on
his knees and an open letter In his hands. He
had read the letter a dozen times. and he was
now reading II again. or rather following the
lines with his eyes. for his mind was busy Win
the glst Of H. The expression OF his face was
anxious and perplexei. the communication ev'-
IDENTIFY being ~ an unpleasant nature. Presently
he started TO his feet with gesture expressive
Of Impotence and drew out his watch.
IT'S Of no use cudrclhng my brains any more
about this business" he muttered. Il must walt
til the Office is open. AID 90 and see Herr Nor
denfak himself"
Herr Nordcnfalk was at that time AZ the head
Of a large publishing business In stockholm. To
his firm with which he had had previous deal
irrs hxel Hcf1nelin had .ntrusied the Ms OF the
novel upon which hc had been working early ana
late for twelve months and more. on the mira
morning after the day when II had been leii IN
his hands he received the letter ahov" referred
70. which was causing him 50 much unehsinrss.
IL ran as follows.
Dear sir: fail to understand why in your
interview with me the "a irs' YOU id not IN
form me that you had rollab1TatoT IN your
novel The story ~ Conversion. For that u
the only way In which can explain - myself
the fact that manuscript In every respect id"n-
teal with yours was forwarded TO us by r"n-
tleman calling himself Herr Knut Nielsson near
IL a fortnight ago. Awaiting your explanation.
remain. dear sir faithfully yours.
KARL NORDENFALK.
"P 81 have addressed n communication IN
similar sense with the above 20 Herr knui Nl"!s-
son" -
1t was not O. b. wondered NJ that Axcl ii"rm'-
lin was d!scomposcd by the arrival ~ TINS letter.
because ne had bah 10 colieoora,or at a,h ana ana
had never even shown tho Ms - hiH BOOK Z" any
onr until the DAY on which he took II - the pup
fishers. His nrst idea was that lac had been IN
come way the victim ~ a fraud. but the NOR" u"
thought about the matter the more inconc'lNapl"
cid II app,ar that any fraud could have been
perpctratcl The manuscript had been always
locked up AT night In the drawer ~ hts willing
desk and for more than six months past hc hai
taken no holiday and hal consequently slept
within couple ~ yards OF the desk every night
during tina, period Moreover. he was positive
that no day hal passed by on which he had not
done some work al the manuscript, for his motto
had been. "Ohne hast und ohne rast. 30 that 1t
had progressed steadily from start t. finish.
The manuscript was OF rather more than the
average length OF an ordinary three-voume
noyel-rhat il to say a fortnight AT least would
have been required by single person for It's
Transcription. II therefore seemed absolutely
impossible that any one could have retained pos
session OF II for a sufficient length or time 10
have made copy.
Axel Herrnelin was AT the publishers office as
soon as the clerks were there. which was much
too soon to see the principal: 40 he must needs
possess his soul In patience for a couple OF hours.
which was hard upon him under the circum-
stances At length he was told that Herr Nor
denfalk could spare him five minutes or so. bu
not more. there was a great press OF business
just then.
Herr Nordenfalk was an idle man. who arrived
at his Office late and went away early. He al
WAYS pretended that he had more work on his
hands than he could properly attend 10. for ne
had found by experience that this was the best
pretext for cutting short interviews. and enabled
him to get away earlier than he otherwise could
have done
Axel Hermelln knew this and had made up his
mind what to say and ask beforehand so that
he might make the best use OF the short time al
lotted to him.
He began by stating that he was the sole nu-
thor Of THE Story Of a Conversion and that ne
had not even shown the manuscript TO any one.
At this Herr Nordenfalk merely raised his eye
brows and looked incredulous.
He then asked who Herr Nelson was. and
whether anything was known Of his antecedents.
Herr Nordenfalk replied that he had made in
quiries. and understood that he had been en-
ployed the STAFF of the "Aftonbad' re-
porter.
The two manuscripts were then brought In
On cursory examination they were Identical
In every particular except In the handwriting
and In the name and address Of the author writ
ten the last page. On turning TO passage.