The Osceola times., 1886-06-26

| ngnted boulevard. l had not gone fal
before noticed that the diamond rims
which l constantly wore on the thirS
finger of my left hand was missing
It was little too large for me; bu
l had not thought Il advisable t.
have the size altered lust vet
and the result was that It slipped from
my finger. knew that wore II wher
! left my hotel, but I could not recol
lect noticing its presence at any subse
quent time; 20 l went to every place
had visited since I came out, the cafe
where had dined, the shop where
had bought some cigars, the streets I hae
traversed, looking everywhere for soms
trace of my lost jewel, and inquirina
Of every one to whom had previously
spoken Il they had seen anything Of It
l feit dreary conviction that my treas
ursd ornament was gone forever, when
as last resource, went to bureau
de police and gave Q description of the
lost ring to the officer there The
oficer was polite, but gave me small
hope OF ever seeing my diamond again
gave 1t up Is gone forever.
was sitting In my hotel dull and de-
pressed, angry at my own carelessness
and inclined to give up any further holi
Gay and forget my annoyance by {
speedy return to my professional du
ties in London, when my friend of tn,
police-office entered.
81 am happy he said. bowing politely
and smiling with. as thought, antici
patton of handsome reward; II an
happy to inform monsieur that we hop,
soon TO place his ring in his hands. On,
answering TO the description you gav'
was brought to our Office by the finder
q countryman Of your own. The rinl
being rather an uncommon one, I fef
assured that IL could be no other thar
the one you had lost You described it
think, as consisting Of five diamondi
set in the shape OF a violet, with .
smaller brilliant in the center-a very
curious and valuable jewell"
"Yes, that's it," I replied curtly, won
dering why he could not give me bach
my property without SO many words.
"Then l may safely assume that this
Is the ring In question:" He brough,
out my ring from his pocket and showed
1t to me.
at is" l said stretching out my hand
but he did not restore the jewel, only
stood there holding 1t and smiling more
than ever. supposed that be wanted
to see some sign of the reward he ex
pected to receive before parting with the
trinket. l took out my purse, ant
opening 1t, made some remark abou,
showing my appreciation of his honesty
but he shook his head, smiling, il
possible, more broadly than before.
do you not wish to know, monsieur,
how your ring was foundp" he asked
with leer which thought was disa
greeable.
We'll, how was it foundp" said
tartly.
My policeman drew himself up to de.
liver his great effect. Monsieur, your
ring was found in another mans
pocketw stared at him in bewilder
ment, mingled with an indefinite fear
while he continued his narrative in 9
less courteous and more confidential
tone than hs had hitherto assumed
"Ah, mon arni, one may be too clever
ones dexterity may lead one astray
IL II be not balanced by discre'
ton. You had not long left the
office when another Englishman came
in complaining that he had lost pock-
ct-book containing all his money. He
had put his hand in his pocket to
bring it out, meaning to pay for some
thing, but found it gone, and in it.
place diamond ring-your ring. For
my own part, do not doubt your hon.
esty-even your generosity. You be.
lieved, doubtless. that exchange is not
robbery, and, that in leaving your ring
in exchange for his portemonnaie, you
would Mt once obtain o memento of a
compatrot and do him practical bene.
fit. That is the Interpretation l should
wish to put on the affair; but the owner
of the pOcket-book will not see it in that
light-he lacks imagination, as 90 many
English do. OF course, your coming to
ask us to try to recover your lost ring
tends to give color to his version of the
matter. which is, that while you were
robbing him Of his money the ring
slipped from your hand and remained
in his pocket; and. with lack Of SYM
pathy for countryman which l grieve
to recount, he demands that you should
be arrested-a duty which l am re-
luctantly compelled to fulfill"
l was absolutely dumb with surprise
and anger. Had had my wits about
me l might-though circumstances
were against me-have brought some
counter charges Of theft against my ac-
cuser; but | was so stupefied by the
strange turn events had taken, that ]
submitted meekly to be searched, to
have the fateful pocket-book taken
from me and to be led away to prison.
Somehow, too, l was unable to secure
possession of the ring that was the cause
Of my undoing, and l have not seen it
since my arrest.
SO here l sit in my cell, depressed
and weary, q victim to the bitterest
self-reproach. / could almost wish to
be condemned to lifelong Imprisonment,
for what is freedom to mep After such
q piece of suicidal folly as ! have been
guilty Of. shall never dare to lift up
my head among my professional breth.
rem, and fear that nothing will be left
for me but to take to honesty when my
term expires.-N y. Daily NtUs.