The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ONLY A MONTH; OR, A CURIOUS MYSTERY EXPLAINED. CAHPTER XIV. The cemetery just out*He the Stadsport at Bergen,~which had called ' rth the eae> adm'-.itT.n of Blanche Morgan in the previ-'3 summer,- look?d perhaps even love- lier now that winter had come with its oft, white shroud. The body of Sigurd Falck rested beside that of his wife in the midst of all this love- liness, and one winter afternoon Sigrid and little Swanhild came to bring to the grave their wreaths and crosses, for it was their father's birthday. They had walked from their uncle's house laden with all the flowers they had been able to collect, and now stood at the gate of the cemetery, which opened stiff- ly owing to the frost. Sigrid looked older and even sadder than she had done in the first shock of her father's death, but little Swanhild had just the same fair rosy face as before. "No one else has remembered his birthday," she said, as they ent-er- ed the silent grave-yard. "See, the snow is quite untrodden. Sigrid, when are they going to put father's name on the stone?" and she point- ed to the slanting marble slab which leaned against the small cross. "There is only mother's name still. Won't they put a bigger slab in- stead where there will be room for both " "Not now," said Sigrid, her voice trembling. "But why not, Sigrid 1 Every one has names put. It seems as if we had forgotten him." "Oh, no, no," said Sigrid, with a ob. "It isn't that, darling; it is that we remember so well, and know what he would have wished about it." "I don't understand," said the child wistfully. "It is in this way," said Sigrid taking her hand tenderly. "I can not have money spent on the tomb- stone, because he would not have liked it. Oh, Swanhild ! you must know it some day, you shall hear it now it was not only his own money that was lost, it was the money of other people. And till it is paid back how can I alter this?" . Swanhild's eyes grew large and bright. "It was that, then, that made him die," she faltered. "He would be so sorry for the other people. Oh, Sigrid, I will be so good ; I don't think I shall ever be naughty again. Why didn't you tell me before, and then I shouldn't have been cross write. How does he seem? In bet- ter spirits again?" I don't know," said Sigrid; "even to me he writes very seldom. It is wretched having him so far away and not knowing what is hap- pening to him." "I wish there was anything I could do for him," said Torvald, "but there seems no chance of any opening out here for him." "That is what nay uncle says. Yet it was no fault of Frithiof's, it seems hard that he should have to suffer. I think the world is very cruel. You and Madale were almost the only friends who stood by us you were almost the only ones who scattered fir branches in the roac on the morning of my father's fun- eral." "You noticed that?" he said, col- oring. "Yes; when I saw how little hac been strewn I felt hurt and sore to think that the others had shown so little respect for him, and gratefu to you and Madale." "Sigrid," he said, quietly, "whi will you not let me be something more to you than a friend ? All tha I have is yours. You are not happj in Herr Gronvold's house. Let m take care of you. Come and make my house liappy, and bring Swan hild with you to be my little sister." "Oh, Torvald!" she cried. "I wish you had not asked me that. You are so good and kind, but but "Do not answer me just yet, then; take time to think it over," he pleaded ; "and indeed I would do my best to make you very hap- py-" because you "things?" wouldn't buy -me "I wanted to shield you and keep .you from knowing," said Sigrid. . "But after all, it is better that you should hear it from me than from some outsider." "You will treat me like a baby, Sigrid, and I'm ten years old after all quite old enough to be told things. And oh, you'll let me help to earn money and pay back the people, won't you?" "That is what Frithiof is trying to do," said Sigrid, "but it is so dif- ficult and so slow. And I can't think of anything help." "Poor dear old we can do to Frithiof," said Swanhild. And she gazed away over the frozen lake to the snow moun- tains which bounded the view, as if she would like to see right through them into the where, behind big London a ' counter, shop there stood a fair-haired Norseman toil- ing bravely to pay off those debts of whiclTehe had just heard. Very sadly they left the cemetery, pausing again to struggle with the stiff gate, while Swanhild held the empty flower-baskets. "Can't you do it?" exclaimed the child. "What a tiresome gate, it is ! worse to fasten than to un- fasten. But see! here come the Lundgrens. They will help." Sigrid glanced round, blushing vividly as she met the eager eyes of Torvald Lundgren, one of Fri- thiof's school friends. The greet- ings were frank and friendly on both sides, and Madale, a tall, pret- ty girl of sixteen, took little Swan- hild's arm and walked on with her. "Let us leave those two to set- tle the gate between them," she said, smiling. "It is far too cold to wait for them." Now Torvald Lundgren was a Tear or two older than Frithiof, and having long been in a pos'tion of authority he was unusually old for his age. As a friend Sigrid liked him, but of late she had half feared that he wished to be more than a friend, and consequently she was not well pleased to see that, by the time the gate was actually shut, Madale and Swanhild were far in advance of them. "Have you heard from Frithiof it?" she asked, walking on brisk- "No," said Torvald. "Pray scold tiw well for me when you next "I know you would," she replied, her eyes filling with tears. 'But yet it could never be. I could never love you as a wife should love a husband, and I am much too fond of you, Torvald, to let you be mar- ried just for your comfortable house." "Your aunt led me to expect that, perhaps, in time, after your first grief had passed "Then it was very wrong of her," said Sigrid, hotly. "You have al- ways been my friend a sort of sec- "What ! he has proposed to you?" said Fru Gronvold, dropping ler work. "Did he speak to you to- day, dear?" Yes," said Sigrid, blushing crim- son. 'And you said yon would let him lave his answer later on. I see, Of course you could not ask him in." "I said nothing of the sort," said Sigrid, vehemently. "I told him that I could never think of marry- ing him, and we shall still be the 5ood friends we have always been." ''My dear child," cried Fru Grbn- vold, with genuine distress in her tone, "how could you be so foolish, so blind to all your own interests? He is a most excellent fellow, good and steady and rich all that heart could wish." "There, I don't agree with you,' said Sigrid, perversely. "I should wish my husband to be very differ- ent. He is just like Torvald in Ib- sen's 'Ett Dukkenhjem,' we always told him so." "Pray don't quote that hateful play to me," said Fru Gronvold. "Every one knows that Ibsen's fool- ish ideas about women being equa to men and sharing their confidence could only bring misery and mis- chief. Torvald Lundgren is a good upright, honorable man, and your refusing him^ds most foolish." "He is very good, I quite admit,' said Sigrid. "He is my friend, am has been always, and will be always But if he were the only man on earth nothing would induce me to marry him. It would only mean wretchedness for us both." "Well, pray don't put your fool ish notions about equality and idea into Karen's head," said Fru Gron void, sharply. "Since you are so stupid and unpractical 't n-'ll be well that Karen should accept the first good offer sne receives." "We are not likely to discuss the matter," said Sigrid, and rising to her feet she hurriedly !eft the roo-u Upstairs she ran choking with angry tears, her aunt's last wu-ds haunting her persistently and in- flicting deeper wounds the more she dwelt upon them. "She wants me to marry him so that she may be rid of the expense of keeping us," thought the poor girl. "She doesn't really care for us a bit, for all the time she is grudging the money we cost her. But I won't be such a bad friend to poor Torvald as to marry him be- cause I am miserable here. I would rather starve than do that. Oh ! What do you think of the color? Pretty, isn't it?" "Charming," said Sigrid. "Let me do the tacking for you." "No, no; you look tired, my :hild ; sit down there by the stove, and I will tack it together as we chat. What makes those dark latches beneath your eyes?" "Oh, it i nothing. I could not sleep lust night, that is all." "Because you were worrying over something. That does not pay, child ; give it up. It's a bad habit." "I don't think I can help it," said Sigrid. "We all of us have a natural tendency that way. Don't you remember how Frithiof never could sleep before- an examina- tion?" "And you perhaps were worrying your brain about him? Wats that it?" "Partly," said Sigrid, loo'i'ng down and speaking nervously. "Y<u see it was in this way I hud a chance of becoming rich and weil to do, of stepping iai^ a position which would have ma<ie me able t< help the others, and because it did not come up to my own notion of riappine.ss I threw away the chance." And so little by little fnd men- tioning no name, she put oef"re ^ motherly old lady all Che facts i-i the case. "Child," said Fru Askevold, "I have only one piece of advice to give you be true to your own ideal." "But then one's own ideal may be unattainable in this world. ' "Perhaps, and if so it can't be helped. But if you mean your mar- riage to be a happy one, then be true. Half the unhappy marriages come from people stooping tu take just what they can get. if you ac- cepted this man's offer you might be wronging some girl who is really capable of loving him properly." "Then you mean that some of us have higher ideals than others!" "Why, yes, to be sure; it is the same in this an in everything else, and what you have to do is just to shut your ears to all the well-mean- ing but false maxims of the w<>r!d, and listen to the voice in your own heart. Depend upon it you will be able to do far more for Frithiof and Swanhild if you are true to your- self than you would be able to do as a rich woman and an unhappy wife." Sigrid was silent for some min- utes. "Thank you," she said at length. "I see tilings much more clearly now ; last night I could only see things through Aunt Gronvold's IKE SUNDAY JML Ml INTERNATIONAL LESSON, SEPT. 1. Lesson IX. The death of John tha I;.I|IIIM. Murk 0. 14-29. Golden Text, Rev. 2. 10. Verse 14. King A title givon by courtesy. His real title was tet- "Oh !' cried Sigrid, "isn t that| rarch> that is? a ruler of ljna f our th iod of him i And how nice of him : pu .. t of a colintry . instead of H; S nume The name of Jesus, Now I ; wuosa miracles had attracted wido shall have something to send to attention Frithiof. It will get to him in time Tlu . se po WeM >Jn, 8 reported mir- for the new year. acles of j esus . Swanhild duped her hands. 13 Eli j ah was a traditional be- "What a splendid ideal I had lief> founded on Mul. 4. 5, that not thought of that. And we shall Klias OI . iij a h W ouid reappear as been relieved bv his ready oonfiunt Glancing quickly at the accompany- ing note, she saw that it boi-o his signature. It rin as followu . "Madame, Will you do me the honor of accepting the water-color sketch of Bergen chosen by the late Herr Falck in October. At your wudi 1 took back the picture then and regarded the purchase as though it had never been made. I now ask you to receive it as a Christmas-gift and a slight token of iny respect for the memory of your father," etc., etc. goo to wait for Christmas sending it straight back. have it up here just for Christmas- day. How pretty it is! People are very kind, I think !" And Sigrid felt the litle clinging the forerunner of the Messiah. A prophet One of unusual prom- inence, such as the more distingu- ished Old Testament propheta. The arm round her waist, and as they emphasis here is upon the idea that looked at the picture together she j esus possessed the spirit and pow- smoothed back the child's gulden er w },i cu characterized the ancient hair tenderly. ; j )ro pi lets rather than upon tho "Yes," she said, smiling, "after all, people are very kind." CHAPTER XV. As Preston Askevold had feared, thought of identifying him with any particular one. 10. John, whom I beheaded Many theories wore advanced as to Jesus's identity, but this one most readily appealed to Herod's itt rick- Frithiof bore the troubles much less en conscience. Even so wicked a easily. He was without Sigrid s man as he could not escape the corn- sweetness of nature, without her , punctions of a guilty conscience patience, and the little touch uf and lfc was natural for him, with philosophic matter-of-factness which his consciousness of guilt resting helped her to endure. He was tar 1 u Pn his mind, to behold in any and more sensitive too, and was terribly i evor :-' P'"' e ; i d holy man and work- handicapped by the bitterness' r of miracles the re-embodiment which was the almost inevitable re- <Jl ' thls S!lme J<jhn whom ue caused suit of his treatment by Blanche t<0 be beheaded. Morgan, a bitterness which stirred 17. In prison A dungeon attached him up into a sort of coiftemptuous to the ( -' nstl Maehaerus, one of hatred of both God and man. Sig ~ Herod's palaces on the east coast rid, with her quiet common sense, 1<lf the Deud Sett - as the her rarely expressed but very reali" Black Fortress. ' Here the ban- faith, struggled on through the win- 1"** lator described was held, ter and the spring, and in the pro- Herodias, his brother Philip's ** w**v j**g| wa*xa. i ._ _._. e cess managed to grow and develop, i wife She was the daughter of Aris- but Frithiof, in his desolate Lou- *?bulus, f " jt e r eon of Herod the don lodgings, with his sore heart : Ureut, and , therefore niece of and rebellious intellect, grew daily both her husbands. Philip was more hard and morose. Had it not Annas'? half brother, who had been for the Bonifaces he must have been disinherited and who lived a gone altogether to the bad, but the. l l ulet J} fe "' Rome days which he spent every now and; ls - N , ot lawful-Astipas had li- then in that quiet, simple bouse- vorced Ins first wtfe. but Jewish law hold, where kindness reigned su- forbade a man marrying his bro- how I hate her maxims about taking spectacles, and I think they must what you can get ! Why should love ond brother to me and oh, do let i and equality and a true union lead it be so still. Don't leave off teing to misery and mischief? It is the ray friend because of this, for indeed I can not help it." "My only wish is to help you," he said, sadly, "it shall be as you would have it." And then they walked on together injustice of lowering woman into a mere pleasant housekeeper that brings half the pain of the world, it seems to me." But by the time Sigrid had lived through the long evening, bearing in an uncomfortable silence until . as best she might the consciousness they overtook the others at Herr j of her aunt's disappointment and Gronvold's gate, where Torvald ! vexation with her, another thought be very short-sighted ones.' Fru Askevold laughed merrily. "That is quite true," she said. ''The marriages brought about by scheming relatives may look prom- ising enough at first, but in the long run they always bring trouble and misery. The true marriages are made in heaven, Sigrid, though folks are slow to believe that." Sigrid went away comforted, yet nevertheless life was not very plea- sant to her just then, for although preme, saved him from utter ruin. Uu ' r b wlfe under circumstances For always through the darkest (U ' V - - 2 />- part of every life there runs, 19. Set hereelf-Vvith TOngeful though we may sometimes fail to and hateful spirit. see it, this "golden thread of love." "''"" CC II,, tilia g'./lVlVll 1111 I (IM VI !*-*> | . so that even the worst man on earth parted and corrupt as he was is not wholly cut off from Uod, sim-e He , rod ^cognized the He will, by some means or other, Johns rebuke iUK l 1 "W^ eternally try to draw him out of ".oral courage, with winch it was death into life. We are astounded now and then to read that some cold-blooded murderer, some man ' I guilty of a hideous crime, will ask in his last moments to see a child , -. who loved him devotedly, and whom' Kept him safe-From t he venge- he also loved. We are astonished " nce * Herodias. Matthew says grasped her hand for a moment, had begun to stir in her heart. Andj ene | la <j t,|, e satisfaction of seeing then, looking at his watch, hurried when that night she went to her Torvald walking the streets of Ber- A righteous man Joint's convinc- words were supported by the fearless and Godly life winch he lived. just because we do not understand ww a " 88 he fcaretl the ml ' U juau ui;\,ttuo\ . , the untiring heart of the All-Fa- tu " ,' ,. Much perplexed It was a conllic ther who in His goodness often gives i , waged within a weak man whi to the vilest sinner the love of a- Madale away, saying that he should be late for some appointment. room her tears were no longer the gen without any signs of great de- tears of anger, but of a miserable Fru Gronvold had unluckily been loneliness and desolation, looking out of the window and had J She looked at little Swanhild ly- seen the little group outside. She ing fast asleep, and wondered how opened the front door as the two girls climbed the steps. "Why did not the Lundgrens come in?" she asked, a look of an- noyance passing over her thin, worn face. "I didn't ask them," said Sigrid, blushing. "And I think Torvald had some engagement," said Swanhild, un- consciously coming to the rescue. "You have been out a long time, Swanhild, now run away to your the refusal would affect her life. "After all," she thought to her- jcction in his face, she had all day long to e.ndure tho consciousness of her aunt's vexation, and to feel in every little economy that this need not have been practiced had she de- cided as Fru Gronvold wished. It self, "Swanhild would have been j was on the whole a very dreary happier had I accepted him. She Christmas, yet the sadness was would have had a much nicer home, and Torvald would never have let her feel thats he was a burden. He brightened by one little act of kind- ness and courtesy which to the end of her life she never forgot. For would have been very kind to us I after all it is that which is rare that both, and I suppose I might have made him happy as happy as he would ever have expected to be. And I might have been able to help Frithiof, for we should have been practicing," said Fru Gronvold, in rich. Perhaps I am losing this the tone which the child detested. chance of what would be best for "Come in here, Sigrid, I want a, every one else just for a fancy. Oh, word with you." Fru Gronvold had ( what am I to do ? After all, he the best of would have been vorv kind, and hearts, but her manner -,o.s unfor- tunate ; from sheer ..nxiety to d< well by people she often repulsed them. To Sigrid, accustomed from her earliest girlhood to come and go as she pleased and to manage her father's house, this manner was here they are not really kind. He would have taken such care of me, and it would surely be very nice to be taken care of again." And then she began to think of her aunt's words, and to wonder whether there might not be some almost intolerable. She resented truth in them, so that by the time interference most strongly, and was the next day had dawned she had far too young and inexperienced to worried herself into a state of con- see, beneath her aunt's dictatorial fusion, and had Torvald Lundgren tone, the real kindness that exist- ed. Her blue eyes looked defiant as she marched into the sitting-room, and drawing off her gloves began to warm her hands by the stove. "Why did you not ask Torvalc Lundgren to come in?" asked Fru Gronvold, taking up her knitting. "Because I didn't want to ask him, auntie." "But you ought to think what other people want, not always of yourself." "I did," said Sigrid, quickly. "I knew he didn't want to come in." "What nonsense you talk, child !" said Fru Gronvold, knitting with more vigor than before, as if she vented her impatience upon the sock she was making. "You must know quite well that Torvald admires you very much ; it is mere affection to pretend not to see what is patent to all the world." "I do not pretend," said Sigrid, angrily, "but you you have en- couraged him to hope, and it is un- fair and unkind of you. He told mo you hnd spoken to him." approached her again might really have accepted him from some puz- y.le-hcaded notion of the duty of be- ing practical and always consider- ing others before yourself. Fortu- nately. Torvald did not appear, and later in the morning she took her perplexities to dear old Fru Aske- vold, the pastor's wife, who having worked early and late for her ten children, now toiled for as many grandchildren, and into the bar- gain was ready to be the friend of any girl who chose to seek her out. In npite of her sixty years she had a bright, fresh-colored face, with a look of youth about it which con- trasted curiously with her snowy hair. She was little and plump and had a brisk, cheerful way of mov- ing about. "Now that is charming of you to come and see me just at the vorv right minute, Sigrid," said Kru Askevold, kissing the girl, whose 'face, owing to trouble and sleep lessnoMS. looked more worn f'vi her "I've just li""-i .;! Ingeborg's r> and ig .iiil want- ing to sit down and rest a litle. makes a deep impression on us. The word of praise spoken at the begin- ning of our career lingers forever in our hearts with something of the glow of encouragement and hopeful- which it first kindled there; t who wished to obev the truth, but who pure-hearted woman or child, feo | .1 , t i , was fast in the mesoea ol sin. true is the beautiful old Latin sav- , i Heard bun gladly He was fascm- ing, long in the work but little t T v i , .. ,. , ated by the words of John, though believe, Mergere n 8 patin.i s h tlu , m A c<jnvelm>nt P d ay-!erodiM non submergere ( hrstus (Christ lets us sink .may be. but not drown). , . { tunil j for venge . Just at this time there was only one thing in which Frithiof found lliri | s _ MiIitarv officers who liris _ any satisfaction, and that wa, m ( ,,, mlm . u , l thc affairs of govcrn . the little store of money which by slow degrees he was able to place 22 . The daughter of Herodias her- m the savings bank. In what way s( ,, f ciui]( m in( , dnw ,.^ ^ n al . something was wrong. That young man looks to me un- other lodger i while the applause of later years glides off us like water o ffa duck's back. Tho little bit of kindness shown in days of trouble is remem- bered when greater kindness dur- ing days of prosperity has been for- gotten. It was Christmas-eve. Sig- rid sat in her cold bedroom, wrap- ped round in an eider-down quilt. She was reading over again the let- ter she had last received from Fri- thiof, just one of those short un- satisfying letters which of late he had sent her. From Germany he had written amusingly enough, but these London letters often left her more unhappy than they found her, not so much from anything they said as from what they left unsaid. Since last Christmas all had been taken away from her, and now it seemed j There's a tin of them up in his room to her that even Frithiof's love was growing cold, and her tears fell fast on the thin little sheet of paper where she had tried so hard to read love and hope between the lines, and had tried in vain. A knock at the door made her dry her eyes hastily, and she was re- lieved to find that it was not her cousin Karen who entered, but Swanhild, with a sunny face and blue eyes dancing with excitement. "Look, Sigrid," she cried, "here is a parcel which looks exactly like a present. Do make haste and open it. it could ever grow mo a sum larse m ^ t un|ir(10(x , < . ntod thing f cr wo . enough to pay his father's credi- men of rank or even respectability. tors he did not trouble hiiinu-ll to Th( . (|alR , ( , s W(MX> usual , perforlu ,. d think, but week by week it did in- bv , ured danevn _ crease, and with tins one aim in hfe -^^ , )>aswj Herod-Better it; he struggled on, working early and thaf is the danfiing . 23. Sware Swore, took an oath. Half of my kingdom As Herod was a vassal of Home, it was not his late, and living on an amount of food which would have horrified an Englishman. Luckily he had dis- covered a place in Oxford Street where he could get a good dinner (< , <|ff(M . His ,..,,,,, vmv is the di ,. ( . et j , , , . to oner. every day for sixpence, but this ( . (>M1 , t ijf ,,,] fascination and was practically his only meal, ami ( , KI ( , xcih , mi . nt produced by the after some months the scanty fare win< , at ,, lc i, anqnot . Wrapped in began to teU upon him, so that even the dr ] llsion of tliese combined the Miss Tumours noticed that pvils< th(1 j,,dgment of the states- man and ruler yielded to reckless proffers, the import of which could derfed," said Miss Caroline one nc fully realized only when sobri- day. "I met him on the stairs jus! ,, lv ,.,,'[ urnvity returned, now. and he seems to me to have 25. Straightway with haste Both grown paler and thinner. What womon knew that nothing but the does he have for breakfast, Char- ! king's oath would cause him to do lotte? Docs ho eat as well as the a thing really contrary to his de- sire. The king's word once given, with "Dear me, no," said Miss Char- they seized their opportunity lotte. "It's my belief that he eats i haute, nothing at all but ship's- biscuits. 27. Straightway Tho king, at They cut the string and folded back the paper. Sigrid giving a lit- tle cry of surprise as she saw be- fore her the waller-color sketch of Urrneii, which had been her father's 1'i-t present to her on the day be fore h ; death. I'nable to pav -t. she had ; ; ked tli" ; roprietor of tlie shop to take .t buck again, ani hu<! and a tin of cocoa, which he makes for himself. All I ever take him is a jug of boiling water night and morning !" "Poor fellow!" snid Miss Char- lotte, sighing a little as she plaited some lace which must have been washed a hundred times into her dress. (To be continued.) * She "You know. Mr. Jones, I thought you were much older than you are." He "Oh, no; not a bit I assure you." Last year Switzerland exported over Il.on0.nn0 watches of the au;- Sregnte value of more than $'25,000,. 000. Durum I'te past fourteen years the nro'lwtion of crude petrol-Mini in TnJI-i li ;l v ini-rensecl by nearly 200 million gallons. last entrapped, hastened to fulfil his reckless pledge. 2y. In a tomb- Probably near Machaonis Matthew (14. 12) adds "and they went and told Jesus." FACT AND FANCY. Doti't retail scandal. Don't wholesale it, either. The latest thing in sin-gory is a steam saw removing diseased por- tions of the liver. Let the lftl'2 bride remember that there are liuics^whon currant jelly makes a stronger appeal to a man than current gossip. Thiindor often kills oysters. Some after-dinner speakers are like the moon the fuller, tho brighter. Perspiration angers heea to the stinging point. If you make a spectacle nf your- pelf, you are bound to be seen through.