The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-08-19

4 ..I,,,E 49,, 5s,7 9,ae.g-..- q. =,
t.us. ts Hoa.,e'Ie1GeI tne slmhSIlty o. % !
- w o. i.nss, w nov coeId sne wear Y
% oe constant reminder Of that whic
sne prayed and strovc to forget? 90
Hus sne must, sne mougnt, wearlly
~ .sssss a. II 81 cySlu sne peer any que
i t.on ,,,,, tfas ;s s.' .0Lcnsu ever g 9IWittne
. uron 'l'i' su'yece 30 painful 70 he
''ea -. - - Z.
~ am not quite well tonight,
tnlnk, BASIL she said extending lie
hand Tor him to place the ring upon II
I :! 1ancfed that i had seen ring lik
this before. 1t is very beautiful, y fore
ing herself to look at 1t and speak natu
rally - = a
The moment Basil French had give
4 Virginia Lawton the ring, he repente'
" and inwardly c1Hed hinsef for
fool for doing It. He went home un
easy and III at ease nnd taking rp tn
j evening paper, the nUc thing his eye
fell upon was not Al calculated TO dis
pei these feelings. It was the ship list
headed by the arrival at BristOl, ofth
Ariel, Captain Grays0 -g,f.s 7,
y" Hang 1t ~ said BASH who know
II 1 don't 60 where sh6 IS, but he'll b
coming heRe, AID that won't do jus
now. no, MOI an 50 anxious to se'
my dear hiends ~ can not wait ada,
ere seeing hlm q lEkt0e depend upoi
1t Pu stick sciese than = brother K
him while he's on More this time !
Wheu 9enl6 10Wtoa. esoapedhf0 he
own room, aftess hef trying tnesfyiex
With Basil, she tore the ring from he
finger and threw It upon her table. L
seemed to burn her band like . name
l'"WnI nothing allow me to forge
that man ?n she said. II will hide II
lose it, anything rather than wear :
perpetual reminder of him." siaa :,
Then a sense of the strangeness o.
the two rings being SO alike struck her
and she took up the ring, and examin-
ed 1t closely. 1t was o perfect fac-simi.
le, she thought She opened q drawer
to put it in the box. A small micro
scope, fav0rite toy of hers, caught hel
eye in the drawer. She remembered
that she had looked at the first ring
through this, and an impulse rose with
in her to look at this in the same way.
Why, there it was, the very little flaw
in the same stone, a flaw too small for
the naked eye. She tren.bled like a
leaf, for she knew that she held in her
nand, not tue !ac-simne OF 0raysoh's
ring, put tue tug itsen, 49,,
As Inls nlynens 9 selsan. .aPpeu a.
tne 9oor, anu salu thas ner Iatner was
waning ior her 70 read tne evening Pa-
per 10 nim. one nau no time 70 tnnk
OF wonder now. one must go oOwn ~
once, Iof ner iatner oiun,t IKE waiing
Ior anyinlng now. -,
Inc snaP news New was always tne nrst
CnlnS tnae MI L@wSOn ueSiIeu Ieau
and here again fate thrust memory be,
Iore ner as she read, Arnved-bristOi
snip Ariei, Grayson.
wen, sne read on, parliamentary
ana general news. anything, everys
thing; put lt all might nave been so
mucn Greek or HeDrew, so iar as tne
words conveyed any sense 10 her; lor
tnough her mmd was not ieit Iree
enougnto CONJECTURE now the nng came
IN her mind, rs u the same; :,
Before the paper was nnsned, Basil
French came in again: -.
II am called 70 bristoi, SUDDENLY"
he said land as the tram goes early
tomorrow, must say good-bye TINS
evening"" :, aes.7 ir.se IN, 80, -.
Genie did not follow him to the door
to say farewell, as lovers have fashion
of doing when others are present.
I Goodbye she said, simply, Civ
ing him her hand, coldly, he fancied |;
and, as she did 50, he noticed that the
ring was not on her finger. .,.-.l..
> This worried him q little. aa,
.'s &C. BY heaven !n he thought, sswhat
fool I was to give her that rihg!'
must have been crqzy. hsiS =.
The paper was finished at last, and
Genie was at liberty to go back to her
room. 1t seemed to her afterwards as
If something entirely without and be-
yOnd herself controlled Eer action that
evening; for she went Immediately to
her Writing-desk, and taking q sheet of
paper, wrote -, Z
"CAPTAIN GRAYSoN,- :
This ring, once given me by you,
Mr. Basil French gave me to-day for
an engagement ring. How did he come
by it? VIRGINIA LAwToN."
In this note she enclosed the ring,
and folding it, and placing it in the en-
velope, directed it t0 captain Charles
Grayson, ship Ariel, Bristol"
Then she went swiftly down the stairs
and babe a footman take it to the post
office that night, go that it might go by
The early morning mail. go -
While doing this, Virginia L.awton
had scarcely thought at all, only that
she must ask of Grayson this question;
but when the letter was past recall, a
dozen tormenting surmises came to her.
Grayson might have given it to Basil,
or sold it back to the jeweller. Oh !!
why had she not thought of all this be-
fore she wrote? And in an agony of
pride and remorse, the night went by.
Two more congenial friends, you
would have thought, were seldom met
together than Basil French and Char
ley Grayson, as they sat together in a
snug room at Graysoli's hotel, when a
servant entered, with a letter. 81
Surely Grayson knew that delicate
hand. He opened the letter. What
Basil French, too, saw the ring, and
for once, his face played him false. The
smile and color both forsook his lip and
cheek, and Captain GraysOn. looking
up from the few words OF the letter,
read convicted treac:'ery and deceit
written i'm every line of the face of fhim
he had thought his friend. He strobe
to French's side, and grasped his
shoulder with fingers that felt like the
grip of steel.
Where did you get this ring?" he
said, holding the ring before linn. "Did
you give Virginia Lawton the letter /
sent herT' t,d - 5iS4 -
French tried to rally but he did not
know how much, or whether any, of