The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-08-30
RECOVERING A RING.

way went down to the penthouse, for
Virginia had promised herself to me in
marriage, and perforco obeycd her al
ways and implicitly, as is the custom i'll
such cases.
had been staying for some weeks
with her people, who had country
house Oh the western shore of lake
WE'LL the name doesn' t matte We had
been together great deal, and had
learned to read Virginia's moods from
tho expression of her adorable little
mouth. On this particular occasion her
lips were pressed tightly together, which
symptom meant i'll my code that Il storm
was brewing, and SO, after her ladyship
had settled herself comfortably among
the cushions, |, saying nothing, scullcd
steadily away from tho shore for some
minutes. And besides it was one Of
those gorgeous autumn afternoons that
make one silent. Little will-o'- the wisps
OF sunlight were dancing With the rip
pies on the surface of the lake The
trees on the shore, like coquottes who
are conscious of having lost the full
bloom of their beauty, had dressed
themselves in gaudy suits of scarlet and
orange, as if hoping by brilliancy of
color to hide the tragedy of decay that
makes autumn SO infinitely pathetic
Ever and anon an adventurous trout
would spring out of the water to look
at the deep blue of the sky, and great
golden bumblebces went buZzing over
our heads i'll their transit across tho lake
in search of fresh plumber.
Watching these things, Twas almost
unmindful of Virginia's presence, and
started when she said sharply, YOU'RE
not very amusing this afternoon -
| smiled an answer, whercupon she
immediately cleared decks for action,
and said, with fine air of irony, eff
only your dear Mrs. Carruthers were
here, you would soon find plenty to say.
I'm suro the way you Went on with her
at lunch was simply disgraceful. Not
that am jealous of her. You needn't
think that''
Mrs. Carruthers was n fellow guest of
mine who possessed Il great many of
the alluring qualities of young widow
She's horrid flirt! !"
"Virgic!'
"She is, and you know it. You can't
call her pretty
well, dear, suppose 1 MT, but
/ have heard lots of fellows say they
thought she was brick. :"
Brick or no brick, she's 40 if she's
day
"She probably is day, but 4O-no
Shall we say 1922
This was ingenious on my part, see
ing that Virginia and both knew that
Mrs Cuirut borc Ivnc NOT vo+ Oe
Virginia flushed, and looked at mo
with her lower lip quivering.
George, when you are sarcastic l al
most hate you. -
"Dear!' said reproachfully, accen-
tuating the vowel sound, to mako the
little word seem more caressing
81 wish had never met you. hate
being engaged anyway-and we seem to
be always quarrcling.''
ut takes two to make quarrel, Vir-
gle, and I'm sure I'm in the best Cf
tempers. ~
That's the aggravating part Of ii.
You sit there smiling and can t make
you angry"
10 my shame be it said burst out
laughing The moment after was sorry.
si'S sNssA' bNr-i4i " Htlilltl Ill Tier ewes,
and l can't bear that, and more Cmiu-
Gus still, she was fdgeting with her en-
gagement ring Now this really alarm
ed me. AS rule, our engagement was
broken and reccmentcd once "A week.
only the afternoon before we had gone
through the ceremony. If it were going
TO happen once every day, there were
elements Of danger in the custom which
it was desirable to avoid.
But before L had time to sue for for
glvcness Virginia took off the little cold
pand and after moments hesitation
f1unS 1t to the lake. And then she look
cd straight at me, with brave show Of
defiance, although the telltalo mouth
let me know that She was frightened Mt
what She had done. | was more hurt
IMAM words can say, and with few
SWllt strokes turned the boats head
homeward But couldn' bear to leave
the ring behind, and | determined to
dive Tor 1T. shipped my oars and took
OFF MY coat. Virginia pretended to take
no notice. Then, watching her CLOSELY
oegan to unite my shoe laces. Still
she pretended not TO see. Then I tool,
OIL my belt and shoes and placed tho
contents of my trousers pockets in q
neat littlo heap III the bottom of tho
boat.
Vilginia's eyes met mine, and she
said TREMENDOUSLY, What are You going
to do, Gccrgo?"
"Divc for the ring, Virginia.
"Can you swiln!''
mo
T couldn't resist this Gb. 1t would
hoNn ~. - r y ~ Nd tuiN l,c.. ~.