Heaven give you peace and rest!" He rose to his feet, debating what he should do.
"Poor Vjera!" he sighed.

"Poor Vjera--she will go next!" Once more, he looked down, and his eye caught sight of the papers projecting from the inner pocket of the coat, which was still open and thrown back upon the floor.

It has been noticed more than once that Johann Schmidt was a man subject to attacks of quite irresistible curiosity.

He hesitated a moment, and then came to the conclusion that he was as much entitled as any one else to be the Count's executor.
"It cannot harm him now," he said, as he extracted the bundle from its place.
One of the letters was quite fresh.

The rest were evidently very old, being yellow with age and ragged at the edges.