Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-04-19
- LITTLE ROMANCE.
INTERESTING erCaT Or A RING ANC
A MIRROR.
A Novelette, in a Nutshell-The Narrative
Related by New York Hotel Pro-
prietor-Romance of Room
No. 20.



"There was bridal couple put up here a
few nights ago. said the proprietor vi an
uptown hotel in New York, 'wno owe their
first meeting to an incident, or rather a
series Of incidents, which occurred in the
very room they occupied last night It's
very pretty story, all told, and Will lay over
any ordinary feat of the Imagination.
Through pure luck and active reasoning
faculties a young fellow has won the pret-
test little sweetheart one could wish. he is
himself smart and handsome, and holds re-
sponsible position as agent for a large hard
ware tirm in the west. He has stopped a.
my house when he was in town for three
years and over.
"Tbe first act In the romance | am telling
you occurred about a year ago, and the
scene was laid in room No. 26, second floor,
front A bell boy came to mo on the even
ing in question and said the gentleman in
No. 26 wished to see me at my convenience.
l went up tairs and found Jimmy-we al.
ways called him by his first name here. !
found him sitting on his sofa admiring a
neat little diamond ring, which flashed In
the gasllght like an electric spark. 1t was
lady's ring and must needs have had a very
slender little finger to fill it. 1t occurred 10
me that the ring was for his intended, and
that he was going to tell me all about it. Ii
is quite natural, you See, for an enthusiastic
young lover to make a confidant of friend
1t somehow boils over in 'em and will out.
Why had a man old enough-but never
mind that. III finish the first story before l
begin another
Il smiled, first at the ring and then at
Jimmy. .Ah! said l, allow me to congrat-
ulate yoI.' and was about to ask who the
fortunate young lady might be- He laughed
pleasantly, said he was cut out for a bache-
lor, just as all young fellows do. Then he
went on to explain about the ring. 1t seemed
he had dropped some loose change upon the
sofa and it had slid down into the lining. In
feeling around for it he had fished out this
ring. We examined it for some marx Of
Identification. but found nothing except the
simple letter "S' engraved on the inner side.
That was certainly rather a small clew to
the owner but we used it for all it WAS
worth. We searched our registry Tor over a
year bank, taking every name opposite room
No. 26 which began with an S. We had
about dozen Smiths, two or three Shorts q
Shanks, and other names to the number of
thirty or more. We wrote to each t, know
if they had lost valuable ring, and asking
them to write and describe it if they had.
Only about half dozen answered, and none
of them had lost ring.
Jimmy went from here to Philadelphia
and then to Washington. 1t was about
three weeks before he showed upat the hotel
here again. OF course. he inquired about
the ring the first thing. If we ever dis
cover the fair owner he said, as he started
for room No. 20, preceded by bell boy with
his sachel and pitcher of ice water, ii
ever we discover the fair owner of that ring
l shall claim the privilege OF personally pre-
senting it to herr
"Twenty-SiX,' said the clerk to boy who
stepped up in response to an electric call
from one of the rooms. 1t was after II
O'Clock, and l was smoking my customary
goodnight cigar in the office. The boy
came back down stairs minute later, two
steps at a time. He said % acted little
wild and wanted me to come up right away.
Before could start Jimmy came running
down himself
Have you got your register for 1SS2r he
asked, nervously. / said that had.
"'Then We'll soon know who that ring be-
longs to- he added.
We got the 1882 register and he turned to
June 3, running his eye hurredly up and
down the numbers of rooms James Shep-
hu, WIG anu was stIlDDicu tppO-
site rooms Nos rs and ", with the addres:
in full, large manufacturing town in one
of the New England states.
"'The letter 5 in that ring stands for
Shepard, shouted Jimmy hilariously.
You see, before going to bed that evening
he had made Preparations to shave. The
mirror before which he was to perform the
operation reflected the light of a gas Jet on
ait SiI Plainly r,,ft tba
glass he caught sight of the inscription.
June 8. 1882 From the inscription to
diamond was an easy step in train OF
thought, and from diamond to the jewel
found in the same room was another. II
was but natural conclusion that the dia-
mond in the ring was the same that had
cut the glass and still more natural that the
date on the glass was the date of the cut II
then became almost certainty that the
person who occupied room No. % on June
8, lSS2, and the owner of the ring were the
same.
"Well, Jimmy started east the next day,
and took the ring with him got letter
from him a few days later saying that Miss
Shepard was the owner of the ring and of a
pretty face aud most charming manners as
well. Her parents, he wrote, were very
grateful for the return of the ring, and had
invited him to call again when in town. ]
hadn't heard from the boy since till he
stopped here on his wedding trip last week.
His charming young wife Wore that diamond
ring on the daintiest of little white fingers.
As said at the outset they would have
none but room No 26 On the mirror just
beneath the June 3, 1882 they left 'Febru.
ary 3, lsS5'-their wedding day"