The morning call., 1893-10-08

CouCelb anu resent accordingly ho dP-
peared to have seen some so and odd years.
and those who knew him best said MS
temper WAS not of the most Christian. out
of the latter assertion L am not competent
to judge. His name was George CareW,
and at the time of which l write he was
passenger on board the royal mail steamer
Cobra on her homeward voyage from
Buenos Ayres to Southampton. Ii was
late in the year, and the passengers were
comparatively few. / cannot with truth
say that Carew was general laVorlte on
board. He was taciturn as rule, and
when he was not taciturn he was apt to be
degmatic.
Ameng the male passengers he was usu-
allv spoken of as "a decent fellow enough
.but oueer;" The feminine portion OF the
community thought, or said they thought,
: him uninteresting. As he never displayed
anv desire TO f1irt with any of them this
perhaps was natural. Among their num-
: ber was a tall, pretty blonde, who had
GRADUALLY pierced the armorof his reserve,
and.in whose company he had ever been
seen to smile. They became very good
/. friends-so much so, indeed, as to draw
down upon the young iady's head various
maternal lectures on the folly of encour-
aging young men who were nobOdies. But
as CIareW, of course, did not hear these
lectures, and as Miss Ida Lenn0x was
belf-willed young person, their friendship
suffered no interruption.
-. There was certain Mrs. BOuverie IN
board. an extremely handsome widow, in
whom Carew. for some unknown reason,
had aroused a violent dislike. She was
clever as well as handsome, but was pos
: sessed of a passionate and somewhat un-
certain temper, which last, however. In
virtue OF her many counterbalanclng good
o. qualities, was universally condOned.
One evening at dinner Mrs. Bouverie
was expatiating to those nearest to her on
the value and antiquity of a very curious
and beautiful ring which she wore, and
which she had picked up in a tour through
Italy. She affirmed it to be at least 800
years old. 1t was a broad gold band,
chased richly and with marvellous deli
raey, and set all around at regular in
tervals with large diamonds OF exquisite
brifhancy. IDside were two capital let
ters, y. c.. each letter formed OF tiny
seed pearls sunk into the gold. Mrs. BOu-
verie. who was of a romantic turn. was of
of opinion that it had been IN ancient be-
trothal ring. There was halt-etfaced
date inside, which the widows rlght-hand
neiEhbor, pale, consumptlve-looklng
clergyman, was i'll vain trying to declpher
through a small magnifying glass. Pres
TO examine the ring, and from her it was
passed from hand to hand pretty well up
Rpd down the length of the table.
e. But, strange to say, il did not come back
TO its owner. 1t had apparently dlsap-
peared. Every one declared it had passed
safely out of his or her hands Where was
:. it, then? There was great commotion,
<;of course: Every body rose and thor
!. oGgh search was made on and under the
ia bic and from one end to the other OF the
:. long saloon.
:. The ring, however was not forthcom-
ing. It's owner had by this time become
somewhat excited, and rather dlsagreea-
bic scene ensued In point OF fact, Mrs
RDuverie insinuated that some one had
appropriated her ring. Upon this some
: one0 the male passengers angrlly sus-
tgested that if Mrs. BOuYerle entertained
suspiciOns IF that nature all present haa
better turn out their pockets. 10 thls
PROPOSITION there was a general assent.
All resumrd their seats. and there was
:: hurried disentombing of keys, letters.
'pockAt handkerchiefs, etc.-but no ring.
- Cakew,. To the surprise of all, quietly re-
-fused 20 exhibit the contents OF his
pocket.
. "But merely as a matter of form, Mr..
:CareW," :" 'expostuated the captain.
:: The young man, however, repeated his
refusal-courteously but more inf1eXibly,
: If anything. than before.
IuFTe was AL dWh WdIu slIcUCcs OdI6W
remained leaning back in his chair, look
;: ing pale and annoyed. Some of the pas
: sengers smiled meaningly, others raised
: their eyebrows.
:. Then Mrs. Bouverie forgot herself
: inlay l ask. sir" she said, addressing
Carew in an excited tone, why you refuse
TO do as ALI your fellow passengers have
"Y ou may. madam" was the brief and
haughtY answer.
well sir-and why not?'
because havs a very special reason
for not doing So" he answered in care
fully repressed voice.
And that reason?"
81 fear l must decline to give It," he
answered quietly. but with an ominous
fash in his gray eyes.
Then you are aware of the imputation
your refusal casts upon your character? ?"
inquired the lady scornfully.
That Is a matter of the utmost indiffer-
epce to me," was the icy answer.
But the speakers hand as it lay upon
the table opened and shut in a quick,
nervous fashion, which showed that he
was less unmoved than he looked
Whereupon Mrs. Bouverie waxed more
and more indiscrest and all but accused
Carew of having the ring in bis possess
sion.
mrs, Bouverie-Mrs. Bouverie." rem
onstrated the captain, this is really not
quite fair"
Here Carew. who had been growing
whittier every moment, rose from his seat
II regret that you should have such an
opinion of me as your words imply, Mrs.
BUuverie," he said in a queer, uncertain
tone. MAY / suggest that you drop the
subject for the present! My temper is not
all that il might be, and ! should be sorry
to be guilty of discourtesy to a lady,"
Then he left the saloon and went on
deck.
After this day. however, Carew OBJ
served a gradual but marked difference in
his fellow passengers demeanor toward
him. His greetings were received coIdly,
. Though with scrupulous poiteness; groups
began to melt insensibly away at his ap-
proach or his advent was signal for dead
silence.
The Young women were frigid to him
the old ones were more so. The elderly
men passed him with a cool nod; the
younger men systematically cut him dead.
and were heard on more than one occasion
to enuneiate the opinion that they "had al
ways thought there was something deuced-
" queer about Carew."
It. was apparently matter OF congratu-
latnn TO them that their impression was
now confirmed.
I'D