Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1891-01-16

L
a gift to one who has been heavenly kind
to the old exile"
ssHumphl" said the jeweler.
| Hermann Ernst came back late at
night.
''I have pleasant surprise for the frau
lein," said he.
ooh, was it a real diamond9" cried
Mary, her face lighting up.
! 81 left it to be cut and reset. / shall
ere long bring back TO the fraulein a
jewel of which she may feel proud,
spoke the old man.
81 always thought that ring was of
value" said Mrs. Bagley. ''But We
! hadn't no means o tellin'."
''Me with real diamond ring7" cried
Mary. SIT seems impossible! Oh, am
so glad-so glad!"
She danced joyfully about the kitchen
floor, making an impromptu castanet of
an old tin bakepan which she CHANGED
! Just then to be buttering for use in the
oven.
Old Hermann watched her with BEAM
ing eyes.
at is a good investment" murmured
! he.
''Look here!" said Mrs. Bagley, when
the shining diamond ring, in its white
velvet case, was sent home. ''Here's foul
play"
"What?" cried Miss Dodd.
"This amt the same stone at all"
said Mrs. Bagley. ''It's size smaller"
cit don't seem quite so big" adj
mitted Mrs. Dodd.
'EThe old fellows a fraud!" said Mrs.
Bagley. 81 told you so from the very
| beginning. He's cheated Mary. He's
traded her diamond off for a smaller
stone and pocketed the difference HIM
self"
Mary listened incredulously.
s'He wouldn't do such a thing" said
she. "But the stone does look smaller
than it ought to. Perhaps there's some
mistake"
"Mistake!" shifted Mrs. Bagley. GA
likely story, amt it? And here he's left
us and gone to work for that map in
Hungerford, after all we done for him.
If ever there was a thankless impostor,
it's him. And tell you it's our duty
to go at once and ferret out the whole
conspiracy, and if he's guilty, clap him
into jail!'
"Oh, Aunt Bagley!"
"Theft is theft, amt it2" said the old
woman. Eyes, Jail! Why note l do
believe you and your Aunt Dodd like to
be imposed upon"
Mrs. Bagley, Miss Dodd, Mary Moore
and Harry Valance went to Hungerford
at once.
The fact that they had not seen old
Hermann Ernst for a couple of days lent
sort OF sombre emphasis to the situa-
ton, and none of them felt quite easy in
their minds.
"The ring2' said Mr.. Maskett, the
jeweler, when they showed it to him.
''Oh, yes, you're quite right. 1t isn't
the ring he brought here at ALL"
81 knowed it," croaked Mrs. Bagley.
''Here is the ring" (taking it from
drawer). "Not worth the labor of pol
ishing it up" he added, contemptnously.
"a cloudy crystal, worth perhaps twenty
five cents, set in imitation gold. Old
Ernst knew it all along, but he was de-
termined that Miss Moore should have a
real diamond ring-she wanted one so
much, he said-and he paid for it out of
bequest he had received from Belgium
two hundred dollars in our money"
Mary uttered little exclamation. She
clasped her hands.
''But," cried she, s'I won't take itr'
''Be so good as to hear me OUT" said
Mr.. Maskett, very grayely. 81 do not
see, young lady that there is any alterna-
tive left to you. I regret to say that old
Ernst died this morning very suddenly,
sitting at his revolving wheel. The coro-
ners jury are even now with the remuins.
[ shall miss him much in every way. He
was an invaluable workman"
So the old diamond cutter went out of
the world, leaving behind him no mark
but the glitter of the precious stone that
he had given Mary Moore
The poor girl herself shed many tear
of conjunction.
CHOW could ever have doubted him
even for moment?" cried she. ssThe
dear, generous old man! But I'll wear
MS present all my life long. Nothing
shall ever induce me to part with it,"
And the low, green grave III the cor
ner of the churchyard, where Hermann
Ernst lies buried, is neatly traced by an
stone, and Mary Valance
keeps geraniums always growing there.
'He liked flowers" she says: 'sand |
there is nothing else can do for him."
Night.