The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-13

as the unusual appearance Of the place
struck her with alarm
Burglars!' she gasnad 1oo1-,,>..
round at the wide-open window +be
dlsordered dressing table. and tbe
gaping ransacked drawers. Then She
looked, morrow struck and speechless
toward the bed.
Aunt Ephemia had awakened and
was sitting up, pale and prim. between
the curtains, inwardly scared but
outwardly self-possessed
6rlng me that rosewood box" she
SAID, in hoarse whisper. mo not
ene lever case.I see it's stripped Of its
ntehts-the little rosewood box, therei
BRING 1t to me-quick-auickp'
When the thing was in her CRASH
and she had looked into it, the box
dropped from her nervous hands. and
her mead sank back upon the pillow
Gomez she moaned. MY little
rudy ring! l would have given ali
that" iiie
They had been married n,ontb-
Freda and her fortune hunting, lover
IN the flrst hour of her distress she
had gone to his home, where his neonIe
mad Nnly welcomed her. During the
ensuing month she had persisted in
seeking for some sort of employment
Which would give her Independence
anu hef sweetheart freedom to work
on, unrestricted, at his profession For
a year she had experienced. all the nettv
Trials or companion existence and
TOT another year she had endured the
haroshlps Of a mothers help" who
was required as a household drudge
IN return for a comfortable home.
AT the end of that time she had been
compelled, reluctantly enough, to rest.
her health having given Way at Last
fhOCn a11fc
rest that Jack Daily had persuaded her
TO take the risk with him in breasting
the high waves of life He couldn,f
give her much, but he could protect
her from pain and drudgery. She had
argued that to hamper himself with a
wife at the very commencement Of his
career would be wicked on her part to
allow, but the sensible view of the mat
| ter was weakened by his kisses and
fredassisresolve collapsed as she rea-
hzed that the frets of this world would
be easier to bear together
So they were married, and their Young
hearts were as brave as their words
When they entered the cheap little sub
urban cottage-whieh was already
weighted with the title of Innisfallen@
and set up housekeeping on the small
income that Jacks father had left him
For nearly three years Jack had
been reading hard, keeping his terms
and now that there was a double in
centive to study he worked early and
late, and found a veritable helpmate
in F'reda. Freda encouraged him. and
never, never let tired irritable word
cross her lips. And he wisely shut his
eyes to the DEFICIENCIES of the little ssgen-
eral, and caught his wife's habit Of
laughing away disagreeables. Trre
there was much pinching here. and
maneuvering there, so as to come ont
square on pay days but, as neither he
! came demoralized by the friction of
daily trials, the union did not turn ont
a failure, as might have been expected
Neither before her marriage nor after
II had Freda heard anything from
Aunt Euphemia, not even an answer
to a pathetic letter begging for one
kindly wish from her only relative on
her wedding day. Yet If ever she smoke
or Aunt Euphemia 1t was with tender
excuse, which was the only subject
over which she and Jack were in dan
ger Of quarreling
"She is a wicked old woman with
soul of leather.' he always declared
And Freda would repeat her favorite
argument:
Remember the ruby ring. Jack
Poor Aunt Euphemia has had her ro
| nance"
A few days after she had left her
aurltss house they had seen an adver-
/ tisen1eNt in several papers offering an
! extraVagant reward to the finder of
ruby ring. which had been stolen