Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-03-09
The Poisoning Ring.
BY CHARLES Scale.

''MY dear fellow, J sald' "ny w
you wish to part with thisg You may
Fever get such gem again.
Wei, as you know" he replied ut
is not that need the money 1t will rea-
lie, but and here he hesitated.
THE fact is, he went on, ut has
brought me lots of trouble.
Mere superstition" I ventured to
remark.
Nothing Of the sort" he answered;
lit is really messenger of Ill, and /
shall be glad to tell you why, If you
care to listen to 1t.
was only too glad to hear bis story,
tor any information concerning precious
stones was of interest TO me as an eX'
pert.
well. he began, That innocent
looking pearl ring, which you regard as
so beautiful, has killed four people to
my knowledge.
sImpossible,n / exclaimed. leaning
forward in my chair. in order that l
might get a clearer view Of his face.
But, if | expected to see signs OF mad
ness in his Ewes, was mistaken, tor his
expression was perfectly calm. if trliie
sad.
Listen. he said Five years ago
an uncle brought me this ring from
Italy as gift to my intended bride.
There was some kind Of pedigree con-
nected with il, but, although he believed
in it, | must say doubted the authenti-
city of the story, and so, by not paying
any particular attention, | do not re-
member its supposed history. | have a
hazy idea that it was reported to be a
hundred wears old and possessed magic
properties, an of which | put down to
the brilliant Imagination of the seller.
She wore it with pleasures in fact, 1t
never left her finger, and she was never
tired of showing it to her friends. | can
see her not explaining its beauties and
the curious setting She was then in
the pride of perfect health, but gradu-
ally change came over her, the color
faded from her cheeks, tue eyes lost
their vitality, her expression became
wan and weary, and finally one summer
night she slipped away from this
world.
But | asked, what has the pearl
TO do with her illness? What did the
physicians say?'
''Oh, they said something about con
sumption, spoke learnedly of hereditary
conditions, but they could not tell exact
ly the cause OF her death. Then, | gave
the ring to my brothers. wife to wear,
and in very similar way she sickened
and died shortly afterwards. OF course
no one thought the ring had anything
to do with either deaths then, but from
events that have taken place recently |
positively believe that this ling is a
talisman of evil. | will tell you why.
but hrst let me say that the two other
deaths occurred in precisely similar
manner TO those | have told you of, and
they, too. wore the pearl ring previous
to their decease."
lit certainly seems curious coinci-
dence," | said, feeling that was ex-
pected 10 say something of a sympa-
thetic nature.
well, +" he went on, 1.-THE rest is soon
told Last winter met Miss Claiming
and we became engaged before the end
OF the season. won't bother you with
any details, but do want you 10 know
that there was not cloud over our
happiness until in an unlucky moment,
while out catching during the summer,
! pulled out of my pocket the pearl ring
and gave il to her to wear, as payment
ne Tho now xgael, sba con,nla;ned ~
tool;nr, IN. tha e,IIo,vi,,e, ,yoot sha tool
- ha,' r -, ,,,omth go. H. doctnrs
ioo 10, '0o 80 r., 80 NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
80, 80, 80 80 40 od,,;.,ad 49, 81
.,,,o,,s o 80 10 .eso 100 80 ,bor,
= Ihayt ~ ~ -" ,ho, srin - oor,od - M
ilah'a "a .'',., ~ a., ~, -,
1',, - $500 49, ~ 7, 49,,
go. .,,'t., ~ 49, - -
800 - - ~ pa ,',Y ~, $50
- - n. - -
go ~ - WI. ' II. .gaa = eno
'i','', '''' .s'' - ~ -,
~ w. !. ~ IN. -. 49,. .I:.s
-, t,,tf,a"If So, ha, -, - .t;n
~ 'oUN '.,'ii, rs. t's'oA' 49, s'''''
me- ~ ll,s - -. 49, 80
'oo ll '''o"- 4 ~ - = i'o Ivy" ''o
'i' - DO, t.o,,a.,,.4 ,i..,,9,. osl.,5
" ~" Nj ~ l,lo., ~,
,9' I,'.'', .'',. = - va
-" II ~ ,,.a 49, ,' ia,t,
-. ''i''i 81 '.' Wv "a