The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-05-08
THE RING AND THE MIRROR.
AHomauee Of Room No. ae.

uGlbs VI AbbhOA n Dol VA AAACANSA8NSJ
which occurred in the very room they
occupied last night. It's a very pretty
story, I'LL told, and will lay over any or"
binary feat ofthe Imagination. Through
pure luck and active reasoning faculties
q young fellow has won the prettiest
little sweetheart one could wish He is
himself smart and handsome, and holds
q responsible position as agent for d
large hardware firm in the West. He
has stopped at my house when he was
In town for three years and over.
"The first act in the man I am
telling you occurred about a year ago,
and the scene was laid in room No. 20,
second floor, front. A bell boy came
to me on the evening in question and
said the gentleman in No. &c wished to
see me at my convenience. [ went up
stairs and found Jimmy-we always
called him by his first name here. /
found him sitting on his sofa admiring
q neat little diamond ring, which flashed
in the gaslight like IN electric spark. 1t
was a lady's ring and must needs have
had a very slender little finger to ELL 1t.
It occurred to me that the ring was for
his intended, and that he was going to
tell me all about it. 1t is quite natural,
You see, for an enthusiastic young lover
to make a confdant of a friend. 1t
somehow boils over in 'em and will out.
Why, / had a man old enough-but
never mind that. I'll finish the first story
before I begin another.
II smiled, first OF the ring and then
at Jimmy. An said I, allow me to
congratulate you > and was about to
ask who the fortunate young lady might
be. He laughed pleasantly, said he was
cut out for a old bachlor, just as all
fellows do. Then he went on to explain
about the ring. It seemed he had drop
ped some loose change upon the sofa
and it had slid down into the lining.
In feeling around for it he had ished
out the ring. We examined it for some
mark Of Identification, but found o'hing
except a simple letter IS" engraved on
the inner side. That was certainly
rather a small clue to the owner, but
we used it for all it was worth. We
searched our register for over a year
back, taking every name opposite room
Nc. 26 which began with an s. We had
about q dozen Smiths, two or three
Shorts, a Shank, and other anne to
the number of thirty or more. We
wrote to each to know if they had
lost a valuable ring, and asking them
TO write and describe it if they had.
Only about hall adozen answered, and
zone of them had lost ring.
Jimmy went fromhere to Philadel-
9hia, and then to Washington. 1t was
about three weeks before he showed up
at the hotel here again. OF course, he
inquired ehout the ring the first thing.
IF we yer discover the fair owner he
said, as he started for room No. rs pre-
coded by a bell boy with his satchel
and pitcher OF ice water, If eve We dis
cover the fair owner of that ring, / shall
claim the privilege of personally
presenting il TO her."
1Twenty-six,' said the clerk to a boy
who stepped up in response to a electric
call from one of the rooms. 1t was
after Ii o'clock, and j was smoking my
customary goodnight cigar in the Office.
The boy came back down stairs a
minute later, two steps at a tine. He
said 26 acted q little Wild and wanted
me to come up aight away. Before
4 could start Jimmy came running
down himself.
Have you got your register for
1882? he asked, nerVously. / said that
L had.
Then wen soon know who that ring
belongs to- be added.
We got the 1857 register and he
turned to June 3, running his eye hur-
riedlY up and down the numbers of
rooms. James Shepard, wife and
daughter, was scrubbed opposite rooms
Nos. Is and rs, with the addres in full,
= large manufacturing town in of
the New England States.
"sThe letter Sin that ring stands for
ShsFasd, shouted Jimmy, h~iIariously.
AYou see, before going to bed that
evening be made preparations to shave.
The mirror before which he was to
perform the operation reflected the
Light Of = gas JET on either side. Plain
~ cut IN one corner Of the glass he
caught q sight of the inscription,
june 3, 1882 From the in
scription to 9 diamond was an easy
Btsp In a train of thought, and from q
diamond TO the jeweled ring found in
the same CON was another. It was
but q natural conclusion that the
diamond "a 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. It then became
almost q certainty that the person who
occupied room No.26 on June 3, 1882,
and tie owner of the ring were the
same.
We'll, Jimmy started East the next
day, and took the ring with him. I got
= letter from him a few days later say
ingthat Miss Shepard was the owner
Of the ring and of q pretty face and