Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1900-04-27


wherein she had been so foolish. His
face wore a sarcastic, whitening smile,
but as he glanced at the inner sur
face Of the ring his expression slowly
froze, for there stared him in the face
this legend: GA. Nm H.
And what did "a. I'M r."
stand for but "Arthur Henderson
Mary Harringtonp"
Seeing his surprise, his dismay, the
girl laughed grimly.
"Now," she said, 81 suppose even
your--shall We say assurance-will
hardly permit you to deny longer
that you forgot your engagement
ring"
He was still staring at the ring
with apparently nothing at all to
say.
Miss Harrington took step back
ward, and with little bow said:
81 believe / remarked earlier in
ibis interview, DR.. Henderson, that
my only purpose in sending for you
was to restore to you your property. 2
At this curt dismissal the doctor
rose quickly to to his feet, coloring
slightly.
lam going" he said; but he made
no move in that direction. Instead,
he leaned both hands on the edge Of
the table and stared fxedly across at
Miss Harrington. His brow was
puckered up in deep wrinkles, but
but whether he was thinking OF the
girl or the ring cannot be said with
certainty.
81 am going" he repeated, 'but-
but I don't understand it. Twas an
CRY this morning, i admit, and acted
foolishly"-he paused to mutter to
himself in kind of wonder, "Lord,
what an awful ass / must have been to
let this girl get away when l had her.
-"but when you handed me my ring
it gave me shock, made me realize
then, as / had not before, what we
were doing. Had / not felt that it
was too late, L would then and there
have retracted and apologized for
every hasty-"
'TYou are pleading then, l am to
understand" she broke in, cuttingly,
''the severe shock as your excuse for
forgetting the ring, that it so be-
numbed, paralyzed your senses, that
you failed to think of it at all until
1 showed it to you a moment ago."
'No," he continued, stubbornly,
81 am not prepared to admit that I
forgot it. / remember so well-am so
absolutely certain that I took it
home
CDR. Henderson, Her voice in
dicated impotence, scorn, indigna-
ton, evaporation and perhaps sew
eral other strong emotions. CDR,
Henderson, this would be amusing,
ridiculous, were it not so insulting.
1 found the ring on the table, so you
cannot possibly have taken it with
you. / think we might as well make
an, end Of this interview"
When she commenced speaking the
doctor had stopped. But he had moi
been listening; he had been thinking
Now be went on slowly, as though
she had not interrupted him:
81 took it home, straight home
laid it on the table while 1 filled and
lighted my pire-I had it in my hand
| for almost an hour while I was smok-
ing and thinking"-he was impress
sively laying off to her with his finger
each link of his chain of retrospect
tion-'I then locked it in a small
safe / have in my bedroom. When
l started here this evening"-hi'
face broke into a triumphant smile
81 put il in my left hand lower vest
pocket, and here she is" and sure
enough he pulled out a ring.
He picked up the other, and hold,
ing them together, carefully com
pared them. They were exactly alike
in every particular, sizea shape, set.
ting, brilliancy, and in both were the
engraved letters, GA. HIN. H."
He passed them acrossto Miss Har-
rington, whose turn it now was tc
show establishment.
Ell don't understand it," she
faltered,
"Nor l." said DR.. Henderson, stern
/ ly. "You seem to have plurality Of