The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1888-10-27
THE STAINED OPAL.

But instead ofthe sunlit CLEANS
which are characteristic of opals
there was vivid dash of scarlet in
its heart like stain Of fresh blood.
Ether Lynn turned the case around
and around in her white finger.
"I never saw anything so beauti-
full !" she murmured, her golden
hazel eyes rejecting the sparkle of
the Jewel. at is quite the lovliest
ring 1 ever saw in my life l won
der if it would fit me-"
She slipped it out of the case and
over her finger. AS she did so
yellow slip of paper Auttered down
and lay unnoticed at her feet.
II wonder why Aunt Ellen never
showed it to me-" she unused, as she
admired her new ornament. And
whose could it have been2 Perhaps
the name is inside"
She tried to draw the ring from
her finger, but it refused to come.
Ethel smiled.
"How easily it went on | And 1
suppose 1 shall have to use soap and
water to get it off again"
But the ring resisted even the in
Auence of soap and water. Pretty
Ethel gazed at it in comic dismay.
"This is fix p she said loud.
"What, my dear ?" said quiet
voice from behind.
And Aunt Ellen, who had entered
unobserved, come to her niece's side
and gave utterance to an exclamation
of horror at sight of Ethel's hand, on
which shone the opal ring, dripping
with soap-subs.
"Ethel The cursed opal How
came it on your finger, child ?"
"Cursed /" repeated Ethel. "This
beautiful ring ? Oh, Aunt Ellen !"
eyes, my dear-cursed Take it off
at once, Ethel !"
"But, auntie, it won't come off,"
said the girl, despairingly. "I've
been trying-and even soap won't
bunge it a single inch"
Miss Lynn turned pale.
| "Oh, Ethel, p she groaned, "what
evil genious prompted you to slip
the fated thing on your finger ? Did
you run such a risk after reading the
prophecy ?"
STOPPING, she picked up the faded
time-stained slip of paper, and held
it toward her with shaking hand
"Read it again, my DEAR" she
said.
"Why, I never saw it before p
answered Ethel, wonderingly, as she
unfolded the slip and read its con-
tents aloud
"Life for life for Morton's sin.
Such shall be the doom of Lynn
Till a maiden of the race,
Pure of heart and fair of face,
From the hungry, seething food
Saves the last of Delmaine's blood ;
Then the race of Lynn shall cease
And Zorah's soul repose in peace. u
"What doggerel I" laughed Ethel,
What is it all about, Aunt Ellen ?
Who was this Zorah ? and was this
her ring ?"
81 never meant you to hear the
story" said Miss Lynn regretfully
"but since you know so much, you
might as well know all.
"Zorah Delmane was a gypsy girl
very beautiful in her wild pictur-
esque style. So, so at least, thought
Morton Lynn, your great-great-
grandfather. He paid her a great
deal of attentinn-won her love in
fact-and might ofm lrried her even
tually had not sweet Amy Leigh
appeared upon thescene and ensuar-
ed him with her sea-blue eyes and
yellow hair.
"The consequences were he for
sock blackeyed, queenly Zorah, and
married Amy in three months time.
"Zorah Delmaine met the bridal
party at the church door after the
ceremony, and pronounced a curse
upon the House of Lynn, to the effect
that each of that name should perish
by drowning--Morton first, then
his descendants in their turn. She
threw the opal ring given her by her
false lover at the feet of the pale
young bride, saying
My hearts blood stains that stone
Take it, and with my curse
"The bride was carried to her
homein deathly faint /; but Morton
laughed at the whole affair. Never
theless, he was a little startled on
picking up the ring to find that dash
of scarlet in the stone. A year later
he was drowned in attempting to
ford the Platte River when the cur
rent ran swift. He left one son,
| who nrn,v I'M r,nnrrind nnd ,,nnt tho