Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-12-04

ooh, it was horrible !" sighed the old
man. You, as see, came out of it all
right, but poor George was in the forward
car, the smoker and was mangled almost
pieces of him buried in yon graveyard
where you found my daughter | iden-
titled them and brought them on with me
from Centerview. 1t was pretty diff
cult job to pick them out, but we knew
they were his remains owing to a didnond
ring on the finger"
GA diamond ring" exclaimed in aston
ishment, what kind of a diamond ring ?"
Gan old-fashioned thing, one that's been
in poor Georges family for generations.
He was proud of II and always carried it
around with bim."
WAS it" | asked "a ring with one large
stone of fine water with star-shaped clus-
ters of brilliants ~
"Why, of course it was"
And had 1t two pieces of thin gold wire
to 90 round the finger?"
Certainly; you must have seen it"
81 have seen it," | said
Well soon settle that question" re-
marked Mrs Sherbrooke's father, going
to the drawer of IA bureau and producing
the identical ring that had given to Col.
Pike, of st. Joe, )" and had afterwards been
claimed by the unfortunate young man
who was now slowly recovering from his
injuries at Centerview.
Describe your late son-in-law as closely
as you car"
"Well, George was an odd sort of chap.
! No one liked him until he knew him well.
| He was rather slouchy in his dress and
| inclined to be quarrelsome But he was
/ Il very good fellow for all that"
! This answered exactly to the descrip-
ton of the man at Centrevew in the doc
| tors hands. it was now my turn to tell
my story and naturally had avery atten
| tive listener. The tender-hearted old gen
tleman interrupted before | had half fin
ished.
George isn't dead" he cried bursting
into tears, 'and Annie will be happy
again. | must not tell her until morning
But how came this diamond ring to be
found when this Col. p Ike, to whom you
gave it, had left the train ~
THAT | confess | do not understand.
advise you to say nothing at present tc
| your daughter. Let us first be certain
! that it is the right man. The shattered
hopes might kill her. Come with me tc
Springfield and we'll start for Centerview
tomorrow night. am as much interest
ed in this matter rs you are. After you
have identified your son-in-law We'll make
Inquiries about the remains that you bur
led, and on the finger of which the ring
| was found"
Two days later we were at CentervieW
by the bedside of George Sherbrooke He
was making favorable progress. lie
smiled ftebly when he saw his father in
law, and thanked me with grateful look
whenl handed him the ring. He was not
strong enough to talk: and it was decid
ed that his wife should not he told of his
existence until ! saw her.
The news must be broken very gently
and by and by she can come here anC
nurse him."
| now devoted myself to inquiring as tC
the circumstances of the identification O
the crushed bodies and charred limbs that
were found after the accident. The hand
/ | learned, which the ring was on, wa:
| discovered reduced to Il cinder damned il
| between some shapelesS trunks at the enc
of the baggage car. The front part of the
smoker and the hinder part of the bag
gage car had been literally mashed into
pulp, having fallen at an acute angle al
the top of the locomotive, fire having done
the rest. | then arrived at these. cOnclu
siOnS, that Col Pike, of st. joe" had
after taking that drink with me, conceal
ed himself under the trunks in the bag
gage car, with the ring on his finger. lie
did this in order that | might not SCI
him again. A mere way station lill,
knObnoster was no place for him to gel
off at. He wished to slip away at som
town where he could meet his pals. Be
sides it was not such II great haul afte
all, and not worth running away for. He
was a professional confidence man: hal
seen me pick up the ring, and thought it
good opportunity to secure such a prize
on which he had already fixed covetou
eyes when George Sherbrooke wore ii
Then came the crash and the end of "COl
Pike, of st. joe