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96 BIOGRAPHY.
long letter to my husband, dictated by Fredrika, relating
to her worldly affairs, in which she told us that she had
caught cold on Christmas Day, after having attended the
morning service in church; but that she now felt better,
although still very weak. The other letter was from the
physician who had been called in, informing us that Fre-
drika was suffering from inflammation of the lungs, and
preparing us for the possibility that she might not have
strength enough to go through this serious illness.
My husband and I drove out at once, in a heavy gale of
wind and rain, to Arsta. On our arrival, at nine o’clock at
night, I asked Fredrika’s kind hostess to prepare her cau-
tiously for our arrival. She was exceedingly weak. Alas!
I saw at once death in her face. She was glad when we
entered her room, aud said, in broken accents, “ It is so
kind of you to come and see me! I have been ill; have
suffered much pain; I have never been so ill.” —“ Do you
feel yourself better now?” I asked. “ Yes, much better,”
she answered. After a little while, during which she
seemed to have fallen into a short slumber, she looked up,
saying, “ Have I dreamt that my sister and brother-in-law
are here?” We again approached her bedside and took
her hand, while we said a few loving words to her. Much
talking she could not bear. Again her mind seemed to
wander for a short time; when again she looked up, she
said to me, “ You cannot think how kind and attentive
every one here has been to me; they have watched over
and tended me in the most kind manner. They are such
excellent people ! ” ;
It did my heart good that the amiable family at Arsta,
who, sorrowing, surrounded her bed, should hear from her
own lips these expressions of gratitude.
Shortly after Fredrika had said these words, the last
earthly struggle began, — that between life and death, —
and, thank God! it was a short one, although painful, last-
ing about an hour, after which all consciousness seemed to
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