Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-12-18

at it caught hold of me.
Would it be asking too much"
said, ito have the wonderful heirloom
in my hand to examine for mo-
ment?"
Without word she slipped the ring
off and gave 1t to me, almost as
though it was a relief to feel it's alb
sence.
In flash a certain recollection had
leaped into my mind. There was an
inscription inside, Harvey Farnham
! had told me. If the ring had been cut,
doubtless the words written within
would show some trace of the violent
treatment to which the band of gold
had been subjected; and I wished, for
reason | hardly dared admit to my
! self, to ascertain If this were the case.
| moved towards the window and,
ostensibly catching the light upon the
| facets of the matchless stone, peeped
| into the circlet. To my surprise, the
words inscribed On the gold were
''Kismet and Miss Cunningham. ;"
They were absolutely unbroken, not
a letter blurred, and the surface of
| the ring gave the appearance of hav-
| ing been untouched since first it was
fashioned | was certain that it had
not been cut This being so, how had
the thing been removed from the fin
| ger of its owner?
You are wondering at the words
| written inside, aren't you?" Karine
! asked, coming little nearer to me.
1T does seem extraordinary that they
! should be there, doesn't it, when you
! think that the ring was made many
| years ago, and was not intended for
! planned the mystery which is part
of the history of the heirloom and ac-
counts for his being particularly anx-
/ ious for me to wear it,
/ l. too, could have explained the
| mystery" | had been told by Farm
I ham that the stone had come from
the first diamond mine in which he
| had been interested. 1t had been fan
| cifuliy dubbed "Kismet," and the gold
mine, which he had lately sold to Car
| son Wildred, had Gas he had informed
me that night of our meeting at the
in, bo of ho
Miss Cunningham Doubtless the
inscription was intended to commence
rate the fact that the gold forming the
ring had been taken from the one
mine, the diamond from the other
But knowing all this, ! was none the
less anxious to hear what Karine
| might have to say.
1T does sound an odd confidence"
remarked. will you tell me the
story"
| had very specific object in carry
! ing on this conversation; but as for
Karine, l could feel that her part of
it was sustained merely for the sake
of keeping me from treading upon
more dangerous ground. Yet, despite
, this nervous anxiety Of her, I could
see-or | fiattered myself-that she
was vaguely surprised and piqued that
| l should be willing to discuss so
trifiing a subject during the fleeting
! moments before Lady Tressdy might
! be expected to appear
You may hear the little romance if
you like" the girl said, a faint visit
| fulness in her sweet voice. Sixty or
seventy years ago, Mr.. Wildred tells
me, a very dashiug ancestor of his
! fell in love with Miss Cunningham.
! That is not very uncommon name.
! you know He was penniless, and she
an heiress. Her father would have
nothing to do with him, and told him
he need not hope to win his daughter
unless within year he could afford to
i buy her the finest diamond betrothal
ring ever seen in the country.
The lover vowed it was 'Kismet
that he should marry Miss Cunning
ham, and swore to return and claim
her, by slipping such a ring on her
! finger, exactly twelve months from
! the day he was sent away.
He had the most extraordinary ad-
ventures in search of fortune, al
ways ending in failure, until the last
month of the appointed time He was
! in India, working in the diamond
mines. when one day he found this
very stone.
He sailed at once for England had
the ring made, and the words you see
engraved inside. As he had said, he
arrived on the very day appointed, but
only to find the girl coming out from
church after her marriage with an
other man. He threw the ring at her
| feet, and flung away; but at her Death
| it was sent back TO him again, and
| though he never married he gave it
to his brothers bride on her wedding
day. Since then it has remained in the
MILDRED family
l could have laughed aloud at this
| sentimental tale invented by the man