Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-12-16
THE ROMANCE OF A RING.
A STRANGE SUIT IN THE vIEN-
MISE LAW COURTS.
A Dog Swallowed n Valuable Diamond,
and His Owner Refuses tn Allow
Him to Be Cut Open In Order
to Remove the Treasure.

much SO indeed. that the last act will
be played shortly in the Vlennese law
courta aud the outcome registered in
the dusty archives by Dryasdust him
self. The lawsuit turns upon very
valuable possession which cannot ex-
actly be described as lost because
every one knows where il Isl neither
can it be said TO be wrongfully with
held. seeing that the present posses
sor would cheerfully restore it 10 its
lawful owner il he could bat he can
not The facts as occurred are these.
A well-known and very popular
Viennese sportsman was entertaining
a few jovial friends at dejeu7er la
fourchette, during which the CONVEX
sation turned on sySrt and the chase.
In the heat of discussion the host
gesticulated freely and in consequence
OF graceful but very sudden wave of
his hand a costly diamond ring, which
he wore constantly. slipped from his
finger and was thrown high in the air
to the opposite end OF the apartment
Now this ring. in addition to its mar
ket price which was considerable, pos
sessed a very high intrinsic value for
its owner who had received it as a
souvenir ana Senerated it as relic.
Unfortunately The ring did not slide
or roll to the Euor but was jerked up
ward and onward just as biscuit or
piece OF sugar might be thrown to n
dog to catch. AS ill-luck would have
it a remarkably clever pointer was
crouched in the corner watching the
company attentively and taking the
graceful movement OF the hosts be-
jewelled hand In conjunction with
solid object moving towards it in the
air as conclusive proofs that tooth
some morsel was being thrown to
him. caught the ring before it fell
and swallowed it before it's owner
could cry Jack Robinsonm This
was the first act
The guests and their hosts. on re-
covering from their astonishment
formed themselves into committee
of ways and means, the practical
result OF their deliberations being
that a skilled veterinary surgeon was
Immediately sent for and the dog
isolated in a little room by himself
and subjected to such treatment as
the surgeon in his wisdom deemed
called for the object being to remedy
the error OF the dog But it was all
to no purpose. The pointer seemed
to DO mona tho worse for having
lunched off diamond; indeed, it
seemed. il anything more lively and
satisfied than before. The guests
patiently waited till late in the even
ing in the hope OF seeing the end;
but the end was not yet The owner
of the dog then agreed 10 leave the
animal in seclusion at his hosts house
until the ring should be recovered
which he naturally believed would
be ia the course of that
night But though the night
came and went day dawned and
faded into night and five more days
ard nights dragged their slow lengths
along. the ring did not make its ap.
pearance. At last the owner of the.
pointer wrote TO say that the animal
had been sufficiently punished Tor his
involuntary error and that had he
swallowed Cleopatras pearl itself
that would not justify his being con-
demned to perpetual Imprisonment
He requested therefore. that his dog
should be sent back without delay.
The sportsman. on the other hand re-
fused to view the matter in that light
but being at the same time laudably
DESTROYS of satisfying what he be-
lieved to be the demands of equity.
offered to purchase the pointer and
then to proceed to do what he liked
with his own. This the owner of the
dog would not hear Of and he insist
ed all the more peremptorily on getting
his property back. The sportsman
then proposed to have a surgical op-
Grafton performed by one of the
celebrities of the Viennese medical
world. at his own expense and un-
dertook to deposit reasonable sum
OF money as compensation for the
loss of the animals services should he
come to grief under the surgeon 8
knife The proposal had the effect
OF rousing all the ire OF the dogs
master who now goes so far as to
maintain that the circumstance that
the dog has not yet restored the ring
in spite of the veterinary's endeavors
Ouk III w NC gu1SNA W outweigh bn0
evidence OF his eyesight which tells
him that the dog did swallow the
ring and that the hosts and his
guests were victims OF an optical de-
fusion. The sportsman thereupon re-
fused to discuss the matter any fur
Their and notified his intention to
keep the too impulsive pointer i'm
prisoned until such time as he recov-
ers his ring The owner of the dog
then took an action against his for
mer friend and the case will come up
for trial In q few days unless COM
promised in the meantime. and it
must be admitted that Solomon in all
his glory never had a more knotty
question to solve than that which the
Viennese judges will be called upon to
decide.