The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1902-12-05


pocket all right, but it had fallen off
the link"
''The link was worn out, of course"
mot bit of it! Perfectly good.
1t came off again when the baby
died"
SIN your pocket?" 1 jeered.
''No, it skipped on to the floor that
time. The baby was very low, but
the doctor hadn't given up hope.
thought of the coral and put my
hand in my pocket to make sure it
was there l tell you 1 felt comfort
ed when / found it, for sure, and
pulled it out, just to be surer-pulled
the chain, you know, and off went
the fish, flying over the floor. / knew
there wasn't any hope them
you jerked it off, somehow, in
pulling it out of your pocket" said I.
| Perhaps. Anyway, it came off,
and the baby died"
Has it ever fallen since?''
''No-those were the only two
deaths in our family, and, SO far, it
has only warned me of DEATH
Everything goes in threes. 1t
must fall again"
ct WILL" said Bob, gravely.
"Now look here" l said, seriously;
''you simply mustn't believe in it
like that. It's awfully odd, of course,
to have snip of coral cutting up
such capers, but it's mere coin
cidence, you know"
"Call it what you like" said Bob,
"it doesn't alter the facts. When
ever I'm on the Threshold of sor-
row, my little coral is sure to give
me warning; so L can't part with it,
you see."
'But L can't see that it does you
any good to know something hideous
is about to happen. Isn't it bad
enough to meet disaster when you
must? Think what fret you'd be
in if it came off while you are away
you'd be worried sick. You can
just leave it with me, Bob. / won't
let it swim away-and I'll give it
back when you come home"
But Bob wouldn't give in, yet
What possible use could it be to me
4 didn't believe in it, and didn't
care for it, while he cared for it
more than anything he had-then it
might be unlucky to lend it-and
what the deuce did L want it for,
anyhow!
Well, of course, / wasn't going to
explain that L wanted it just because
he cared more for it than anything
else-because it seemed a part of
himself-because / wanted something
he had kept always near him; but
l waxed very eloquent, and, at last,
l won!
eff | die over there" he said as
he slipped the little coral on my
chain, you'll be the first to know
it, Doll. The fish will leave it's link"
"Or if you fall upstairs, or stub
your toe" / Knocked.
II don't think it bothers about
trivial things" he said, solemnly-
"but it will tell you if l am dying,
dear"
Even two years must have an end,
but they seemed quite endless to
me. Bob wrote me, to be sure, but
his letters could hardly be called
voluminous, nor did they appear
with overwhelming frequency; in
fact, l was lucky to get a line a
month! But Bobby had lot to do
besides write letters, L reminded my
self. There were the sketches he
must send to the Potch Scholarship
committee; and the travelling about
to see what the great architects of
the world had done; models to make
and curios to gather; oh, was sure
Bob was busy enough! He wrote
from Pompeii, where he spent fort
night, then nothing more was heard
from him for month; he had been
buried at the National museum at
Naples, he explained, reveling in the
beautiful bronzes, paintings and
architectural fragments dug up from
Pompeii. Next he was in Rome,
where ne passed his days in the Fo-
rum measuring and drawing some of
the existing remains, or else at the
Capitoline or Tabularium, where
fragments are stored before being
sent to the museums. After the mu-
seums came his study of the Pan
theon, and then l got thick letter,
which 1 welcomed with glee; but it
was all about palaces of the 10th cen
fury; the Farnese by Michel Angelo
Buonarrotti, and the Farnesina, and
palazzo Massini by Baldassare Peruz-
ri!
Florence, Venice, Pisa, Milan, he
seemed to skim through speedily.
"The modern renaissance work in
these cities is of little value" he
wrote, loftily; and next wrote from
Athens, where he was absorbed in
ruins, and wrote me learnedly on
the beauties he discovered on the
Acropolis-the Erectheum, the Par
thenon and the Propylaeum! Then
year had gone by, and he was in
Paris, and wrote that his heart was
set on getting permission to make
measurements of the Bibliothec, Ste.
Genevieve by La Brouste, the Libraire
of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and
the Ecole de Medecin. Certainly
| Bob's letters were dull to distrac-