The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-11-27

| lace OF BEADS ana armletS OF silver, and lays
them on the big stone in the rivulct which
is her favoritc scat. A little cross too, that
hcrlovcr has given her and taught her to
prize, she lays amongst them.
| GLOW pretty they arc! how pretty they
must look on mel" she cries in innocont
vanity, not knowing it WAS she who gave a
beauty 10 the trnkcts far more than they
gave to her. "But my ring is the best y
she says, "ah, let mo SEQ how that sparlllcs
amongst them--so tiny, but SO precious"
She lays it on the stouc in the midst of
her armlcts, and gazcs at ii admirngly.
But in another instant Il sound reaches her
ear. She thinks il is her lovers foolslcp,
and turning away her head to listen, sec
ond only, and she turns again to see her
priced and fatcd ring carried from her in
the beak Of Il raven which had been hover
ing over her head.
With cry of despair the girl leaps from
the rock to meet her lover and to pour into
his ear the sad tale of her loss.
TO the Tcutonc mind Of Hans this event
is annoying as involving the loss of the ring
but otherwise not overwhelming.
"After all another ring can be got where
that come frem,' he said lightly Don't
spoil your pretty eyes, my Elsa by crying
after the bauble."
Then Elsa tells him with faltcring tongue
and white checks OF the old sibyrs proph-
| ccy. 'My happiness goes, that ring, {"
| she cries passionately, looking up at the
ravens nest overhoncmg the edges Of the
| rock far above her i.Iad, where the bird has
retired with his prey.
eff that be So" said the young lover,
smiling, yet moved by the anguish of her
face, ''you shall very soon have ii buck
again-hoth ring and the happiness"
Before the girl is well aware of what he
is about he has begun climbing, hand over
| hand, the rugged face of the steep gorge,
clinging here to Il bush, and there to stone
and hanging now and again over the abyss
| on the strong arm Of u trc1
''Stay! stay!" cries the gypsy, as she
watches her lovers progress with horrible
| fascination. "Come back! Alas! the ring
is not worth your danger to me. What
have sad?"
But the young man, excited now with
the sense OF &" exploit almost achieved,
sends back rcassuring shout, and pursues
his .pcrilous way upward. One more spring
and the prize is his.
He stretches his hand over the nest from
which the scared bird rises supporting him
self meanwhile on a clump Of gorsc which
Ovcrhangs the torrent. =.
| Elsa, seized with sudden prcscntmcnt
Of evil, shudders and covers her eyes with
her hands. A horrible SOUND Of something
falling heavily beside her makes her start
away and look.
At her feet lies the body of her lover, the
last faint breath of life but now tuttcring
from his white lips, while in his tightly
clinchcd hand he still holds the prize for
which he had strivcn-hcr ring.
Three days aftcrward some of the gypsy
tribe, searching for the lost elsa, who has
been for this time missing, coming upon a
white-faced, scared and ghost like creature
sitting in the roar Of the water fall, beside n
dead and mutiated body, to which she is
still chattcring plaintivc words of fond ell
dcarmcnt, and tender rcproach for its silent
coldncss. The gypsies carried the body Of
the young man to the abbey, where he was
buried, and removing their camp from the
ncighborhood took the unfortunate Elsa
with them.
But the glen where her happiness and her
misery had in turn come to her had q weird
charm for her unquict spirit, which no dis
lance could alter. She found hcr way back
again to her favorte haunt, and not many
months aftcrward lay down with child's
WEAKNESS to die on the spot where her low
cr'slifc and her own reason had alike left
her.