Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Nev. County, Ark.) 1885-1???, 1891-06-04

Genie, said Ralph Meredith.
"While | am gone Ben Brander will
have it all his own way. may lose
YOU"
Genie laughed.
I'VE are engaged to each other,
Ralph, she said. II like you, and
care nothing for Ben Brander |
shall not begin to hirt as soon as you
are out of sight, assure YOU"
They W re sitting side by side up
on q fallen log. Ralph pulled bit
of moss off the bark and picked it to
pieces before he answered.
"Well, Genie, with woman, out
of sight is out of mind, very often.
A year is a long time to be parted !;
many things may happen.
"Our hearts will not be parted, :"
said Genie. aCome, now, I'll 90 to
the witch we'll and drink the lovers
cup with you, and then whatever
happens we'll meet again and be hap
py."
"Iou seem to mean that" said
Ralph. "Do you believe that non
sense?'
"Well," said Genie, "our folks all
believe it. Mother has great good
sense, and she does. They say q
girl cannot break her vow If she tries
to do it, after drinking the lovers
cup with the man she's promised to.
There was Miss Nancy Vaughn, who,
as we all know, drank the cup with
Jack Grey. She Tilted him and en-
gagged herself to a richer man. but he
dropped dead at the very altar, and
Jack made up with her, after all.
And Captain Spicer was on a desert
island five years, grandmother says,
aid his wife had fifty offers, but re-
fused them all. We've drunk of
the lovers cup, she said, and he'll
come back SO he did. Come,
Ralph" "
She arose and tripped away, Ralph
following her. They plunged into
the heart of the wood, and soon came
to natural fountain, gushing from
a rock into sort of basin below. On
a ledge above the flowing water
stood a cup, cut from some translu
cent white stone "a curious thing
with a handle on either side, and a
figure of Cupid carved upon it,
1t was not known who cut the cup
or how long it had been there. 1t
was a miracle that in all those years
no one had broken or stolen it.
Probably the superstitious that
hung about it protected it.
1t was said that in the course of
three generations 1t had been twice
in the hand of dishonest folk, but
each time as the thief turned away a
blow was dealt him by an unseen
hand and he fell to the ground, only
too happy to be able to crawl away
alive. True or false, every boy in
the village believed this solemnly,
and the lovers cup was as safe as
though guarded by a regiment of sol
diers.
AS Genie stopped before the foun-
tain she turned and lifted her finger
warningly. VA
Remember" she said, "we must
lift the cup together, till it as we hold
the handles, drink at one moment,
leave a drop to throw into the foun-
tain, and neither must release the
cup until it stands in its place again,
and not one word must be spoken by
either in all that while"
Thus warned, Ralph went through
the mystic performance properly,
and the two returned to Genie
home. The next day Ralph was
iourneying toward the far West, and
Genie was beginning to count the
days of his absence.
At first Genies words seemed to
prove true Distance scarcely
seemed to divide these lovers. Their
letters were frequent, and grew
warmer as time went on. Six months
were gone when one day news came
of trouble with the Indians then
mails were delayed then a strange
letter came. 1t began this way:
DEAREST GENE AS write you
this this my rifle stands within reach,
| am watching devil of redskln
who is looking about the edge Of the
woods near the Widow Taggart's lit