Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-05-07
THE RING WITH TWO LIONS.
tcontlnuei from Ia Paa..l

The young Baron and | went off for the
wild boar, but Ainsle walked, drove and
sentimentaiNed with Bertha. She was
true German girl, and liked to play with her
emotions. The handsome American, with
his bluck eyes and his knowledge of Goethe,
became great fayOrite, and suddenly took
up going TO church with the maiden nunts
and Bertha; aud for @ Protestant clergy
man, engaged to a young ledy in the British
provinces, showed great libcrality, both in
love and In religion.
SO l was not astonlshed, when the time
came for me to leave that Ainslie could not
20 with me. There were still castles to sec
and excursions TO make which he felt IL his
duty to experience Bcrtha's blue eyes
looked more brilliantly blue at this suggcs
ton. IL was evident she had never heard of
the young lady In the British provinces
She read me letter from Mary just before
left her. The marriage of Mr.. Carter and
Mrs. Jessamine was unaccountably delayed
by matters Of business, and they would re-
main In Paris all winter And Mary went on
TO say thg,, as there was month of good
weather left for Switzerland yet, they had
determined to rctrace their steps, and to take
a Swiss tour, as staying in Paris, so long us
the marriage was not to come of immedi-
ately, was neither agreeable nor cXpcdient.
Mary wrote in wrctched spirits, and
could well believe that Mrs. Jcssaminc's
matrimonial struggles had not improved her
temper
SO went to Geneva, that keynote of Swiss
travel, hoping to hear or see something Of
Mary. Three days careful consultation of
the hotel books convinced mt that they were
not in the city of Calvin. | went sauntering
down through the jewellers shops one idle
afternoon, and in small one in an obscure
street | found Handyside Marbury.
He WIS more shabby than l had ever seen
him. Pale and forlorn, and hungry looking,
the friend Of Leo X. and OF Lorenzo da
Medici the apologst Of Hypatia, the man Of
grand ideas and slender resources was at the
end of his forlorn fortunes
He was attempting TO dispose Of piece Of
Jewelry when | entered, to a haggling shop
man, who was attentively examining the
article.
Handyside greeted me with enthusiasm,
and told me that he had been lying i'll at
Geneva for month, and that, his letters hay-
ing failed to arrive, etc, he was obliged to
sell some few little COLLECTS" which he had
collected in his travels.
looked carelessly at the " "obicct" which
was to help poor Handyside along a little
further, and saw the ring with two lions.
With some perturbation | asked leave to
examine it. Yes there was the winkng lion
the same ring, l could have sworn, that
had given to Mary observation-disclosures with
ruby eyes and all. l asked Mr.. Marbury
where he had picked up so curious thing
-" bought it in Venice" said he, lin one
of those little shops on the Rialto Why do
you nskg'
Because l too bought one there exactly
like this" said /, eying him closely.
That is not improbable" said the jewel
er "Such a curious ring as this was proba-
bly, the badge of n society, and there were
many of them; but II is very interesting
Yes" said Marbury waking up to his
learning and useless research. "SOmc We
nctian lcague-some brothers in their in
fernal councils-probably had these rings for
midnight warnings, subaqueous commun-
ings, murderous messages. See what cum
mQlinnGnt
With his diamond eyes"
How much is it worth to youyn said he,
suddenly dropping from the fifteenth to the
nineteenth century.
May l become the purchaser / asked.
81 would like to bring the two rings to-
gether."
Certainly" said Marbury, magnifcently.
SO the jeweler not having to pay for IL him
self put very good price on the ring, and
became its owner, as | believed for the sec
ond time, and the old lion winked ut me con-
identially.
And yet how was that possible? What
connection could there be between this dis
reputable old man and my beautiful Mary?
Was he a thief, and had he hung about the
party, of which (by his interest in Mrs. Jes-
samine) he evidently knew something, until
lie could despoil them Of their watches and
rings? Or was the other suppostion proba.
Bile, that he, like myself, had fallen on a re-
pository of rings with two lions" and had
bought one, as / had done, enamorcd of the
curiosity? He was just the man to buy use
less things even with his funds very low.
| concluded to ask him, when l saw MIN
again, some leading questions about Mrs.
Jcssamine's party, but he had walked quick
~ away when the money was paid over to
him for the ring, and could not find him in
all Geneva. He was the sort of man not to
be found when he was wanted. 1t was one
of his talents. Perhaps he was so little
sought after that he had never cultivated
being found.
| went thoroughly over and through Swift
zcrland before caught my bird. Then, just
as ! had given up looking, Mary and her
aunt walked in at 1nteraken and took their
seats below me at the table dhote.
They did not see me until the dinner was
nearly over | had looked at a certain we'll
known white hand, and ! saw that the taper
finger which had worn the "Ting with two
lions" was empty.
Then l became convinced that Handyside
Marbury was thief He had dogged these
two women, and he had stolen this jewel,
which Mary, after the fashion of women
had left on her pincushion or dressing table.
met the ladies of course after dinner, and
found them both glad to see me. Mrs. Jes-
samine was somewhat agitated over II rob
berry she had suffered from in Paris, and
talked of hundred Napoleons which had
gone as If they were ten thousand.
So | was right Mary had put on her
gloves as | approached her; she did not want
me to see her loss, suppose.
When l had an opportunity TO speak with
her alone she told me that the Carter en-
gagement was broken off, and that Mrs. Jes-
samine was very sad about 1t. Mr. Carter
had relucted at the very stringent leading
strings into which Mrs. Jessamine had
proposed putting him. The ladies al
lowed me to join their party, and We all went
to Geneva together, as in the good old times
bought little blue forget-me-not ring on
the Quai Voltaire, and prepared myself for
action. When Mary and l were alone to-
gether, l led the conversation toward the
ring.
$50 the lions went with the Napoleons,
did they Mary ?''
She colored' violently, and said:
"So--so you heard Of our robbery"
Why, of course; you heard your aunt
telling me; but, Mary, hold out your hand"
Aud pulled out of my pocket the ring
with two lions We were sitting on one of
the little benches in the grounds Of the
Hotel de la Paix when this happened, aRd
were quite alone. ] never saw one so utterly
frightened and agtated as Mary She looked
at the ring, and at me, with eyes that seemed
all but starting from her head, and with a
face as pale as death.
"Tel me, tell mel What do you know
about il yn
II was now my turn to be agit0tcd She
referred undoubtedly to the burglary in
Paris, and what did ! know about ity Had
not become at once and most innocently
very important link in the chain Of evidence
and did wish to give up poor shabby old
Handyside Marbury on a mere suspicion?
for was 1t not altogether possible that he had
found fac-simile OF the ring instead of
stealing it And yet, if told the whole
truth, / was in honor bound to share the
suspicious / had OF this man with Mrs.
Jcssamine.
Mary looked at me so piteously thot /
hastened to put her out of pain, and deter
mined at the same moment not TO mplicate
Marbury. / told her part OF the truth;
which was, that had found the ring ia
Geneva, and that had conyerscd with the
leweler about it, not forgetting his ingen.
ions suggestion that the ring was one
OF many, probably the badge of Sc
cret society. She grew composed and al
lowed me TO once more put II on her finger,
and 10 place as a guard the little eirclet Of
blue iorgetme -nots, from the Quai Yoltaire.