Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-12-26

DAINTY trlnket to have been the prop
erty of a MANI"
"B is for Bess and T. for Tabler or
Trussell or Turner something
else. All, the initials of my own
name, too, to be sure. How romanticl
Though past forty, and confirmed
bachelor, we'll done. l thought, with
all of the intrigues of Cupid, / find a
curiosity and pleasure and keen de-
sire to look upon the owners face.
And moved by some mysterious super
stition, am ready to believe the fair
owner will get the ring and / shall be
rewarded with bride.
Both laughed at the possibility and
then BIS friend ventured, Maybe she's
colored, maybe she's married. maybe
it belongs to woman of 90. Who
knows9" There, c." retorted B..
how ungenerous to kick the bottom
out of my air-castle and to spoil my
beautiful daydream by suggesting the
possible development of an ugly re-
atty.
An intruder here entered and the
friends parted, B., for his home in
Opequon, where in few days heNhad
almost forgotten his romantic day
dream, for the farm work needed so
much of his time and thought, and
here we will leave him and return to
the city.
Just in front of a popular dry goods
house, vehicle drawn by span OF
black horses, halted and an old man
helped to the pavement tall lady
heavily yelled
She stepped hastily into the room
and eagerly inquired, Have you sold
the gloves | was examining here last
FIidaye"
YES" was the prompt answer
from one of the pretty clerks, "a Jew
came here and made quite large pur-
chase of goods and that pair of gloves
was one of the list of articles. wish
you had taken them then.
80 do /" replied the lady in such
tremulous tones, that the girl address
ed looked up to meet the great dark
eyes OF the strange woman fixed upon
her, with regret and sorrow pouring
from their liquid depths.
II cared little for the gloves, as
purchased a warmer pair after leaving
here. wanted something comiorta-
ble-useful for a Christmas gift for
father-and they did not please me;
but lost my ring that day, and as |
had my hand in one of the gloves,
thought it might be barely possible
that it fell from my finger as | with
drew my hand. The ring was a
birthday gift from my mother.
81 am very sorry, but it, of course,
is not loss through any carelessness
of ours" replied the girl, and /
don't think you will ever see or hear
from it again"
II fear not" remarked the lady.
as she left the store and re.entered
the carriage. As the horses trotted
briskly homeward, she fell into rev.
erie. Late December and the fields
looked like early autumn. The very
air seemed to carry in it the warmth
of summer sunshine. The landscape
was still beautiful, but Beula flor that
was her nance had no eyes for her
surroundings. She was thinking of
Christmas twenty years ago, and
though an unconscious babe then,
the sad time had been talked about so
frequently, that like an oft-seen pic
ture, every minute detail was stamp
ed forever upon her memory. The
deep SHOWS, the drifted roads, the
icicles hanging from the caves of her
old home, within which, by bed
side stood her father, then a young
man, while lying. dying, there lay
her beautiful mother. Closed the
glorious eyes. Whittier than marble
the low broad brow, made still more
CHASTITY by its nearness to a mass Of
hair, black as a ravens wing, whose
unbound folds reached to the floor
The sister, sitting her sobs, stands
near the bed. The husband, silent.
with bowed head, shows the agony Of
his soul only in his pinched features
and hollow eyes. Not murmur es-
capes him, but what tempest of des-
olation and despair is raging within
his bosom!
But the silent watchers start when
the bloodless hands of his worshipped