The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-10
|G,inter Nightgovns

&
lover, is a night nurse on one of the
government transports that is now float
ing on the Pacific coast.
There is something in the air of the
Northern countries that inspires q
| strange mysticism. The curious mystic
| ism is remarkably .exemplified in the
case of Frans Bjorlaund. He was born
and educated in Northern Sweden, COM
! ing to America W hen he was yet young
fellow in his teens. Bjorklund soon be-
came American enough, however, to
| quickly develop two fads, although he
has taken both more seriously than would
be possible with his tickle cousins on this
side of the pond One of the fads is the
collection of every bit of knowledge that
throws light ON the lives of great people.
The other is the study of phrenology In
a way both are, euriously united. And it
was by still more closely combining the
two that Trans found his fsaadoWy sweet
heart.
Frans was a very. young man when
one day, in porings over the lives of
great singers. he read that of Jenny
Lind. The serene life of the wonderful
Swedish singer mace a remarkable I'M
preston on him. He read it over and
over again until he had every detail of
it by heart. Gradually there came to
ture Of this gifted woman. But pictures
of Jenny Lind are rather scarce, and it
was some time before he was gratified
with a glimpse of the face of the
woman for whom he had conceived a
strange passion. In looking over a col
lection of old engravings one day he
came across an engraving of the pic
ture that hangs in the Berlin gallery
1t was painted by a famous artist when
the singer was at the height Of her ca
reer. She is seated in characteristic
Lind attitude, her quaint gown falling
In rich fold about her slim figure, roses
twined in her hair. The picture seemed
to embody every charm with which the
great singer s. strange adorer had enyel-
eped her. He purchased the engraving
In his rowing career it was always with
him. Finally a great longing took pos
session of him. He Fwanted painting
made that would adequately represent
the woman he had learned to love But
Frans Bjorklund was not rich In this
world Is goods. When the idea took pos
session of him he was working as night
nurse in st. Luke hospital. His re-
muneration was not extravagant. But
all things are possible to a lover. He
went to an artist and asked him how
much picture such as he desired
would cost The answer was $3.50. 1t
was a big sum to the night nurse But
day by day he boarded every cent The
sum grew from little pile of silver to
a substantial bank account. Finally the
picture was begun.
And then Frahs began to haunt the
artists studios He watched every detail
When twas finished it made a very big
picture indeed and a beautiful one as
wells Frans had money enough left to
buyza beautiful gold frame for his pic
ture and to have the whole encased in a
rosewood case with a glass front. Then
came the question of where it should be
hung. Frans took all his meals and
slept at the hospital. He could not bear
that the. picture should be out of his
sight. So it was sent to the hospital
and hung at the end of one of the long
corridors, where every night Frans paced
back and forth ON his round of visits.
Through the still hours of the night,
when the lights burned low in the CORR
DOR the face and figure of the beautiful
picture seemed strangely Hfelike and the
man who worshiped the picture fell into
the habit of talking to it. In time it
seemed to him that the lovely eyes COM
pretended, that the soft lips smiled back.
But FranS was man of unusually high
ideals and gradually it occurred to him
that his singer could not be happy away
from everything that suggested her be-
loved art The thought of separation
was painful-so painful that Frans kept