The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1910-05-26

known what a god was and had there
been such thing to look at.
There was also the pair Of scissors,
| together with the little housewife with
needles and thread. Mirror, hairpins,
scissors, sewing materials, comb
woman's gear and the Bible, a
woman's book, she reflected with GER
tain bitterness, unconscious of the
truth of her thought-a book for chill
| dren, old women, and women-led men!
Well that philosophy upon which she
| prided herself must come to her as
sstance now and she could not afford
to disdain the volume which was all
that the world of many books offered
to her for her purpose, because she
did not believe in it. The truth was
in her and she could tell him what it
was despite the assertion of the
printed pages.
In the leather bag there was abso-
lutely nothing except broken glass
and scratched bottle tops Of silver and
the bag itself was ruined. She sepa-
rated the pieces of metal and the
metal fittings of the bag, which were
also of silver, and filling the rotting
leather with sand she presently sank
it in the lagoon.
Last of all she examined what she
had brought from the other shore of
the island the night before. The sill
yer was tarnished, but by rubbing it in
Lo hY,in
was heavily engraved and she had
no difficulty in making out the words:
John Revell Charnock-His Dog.
After that was a date July %,
1875" John Revell Charnock then
would be 21 years old, assuming that
this was he and that the dog had been
given him when he was born. 1t was
more probable, however, that he was
from three to five years old before
he became the owner Of dog, which
would make him about 25.
The man before her looked younger
to her scrutiny than that. Care and
trouble had passed him by. With
nothing to vex him he might have
been any age. He would probably
look just as he was for 20 years or
more Still fancifully adjusting ex-
ternal relations to internal relations,
which, after all, she realized was the
secret of life according to her favorite
philosopher, she concluded that the
man was 25, three years older than
she at that moment, proper differ.
| n tbpir for Her
| face famed. She scarcely knew why,
and she turned to an inspection Of the
rings.
The first was a diamond, solitaire,
Of rare beauty, she judged. Although
she was not especially eXpErt n gUeh
matters, she deemed it must be Of
great value. There was no inscrip-
| tion of any sort within the narrow
hoop of gold, although she searched
keenly the inner surface. The diamond
was curiously set. There was an ex-
quisite tracery of little coat of arms
on either side of the setting, done in
miniature but with skill to marvel
at, too small even for her brilliant
vision to decipher in detail.
The other she recognized with a
sneer as one of those letters of con-
vention, a wedding ring. 1t was a
heavier hoop of gold much engraved
within She washed it in tie stream
and rubbed it in the sand until she
could make it out. ~. R. c." she
read, "to M. P. t." There was a date
after, September 10, 1869, and then
these cabalistic words, III. Cor. 1915"
which she presently OWNED to be
reference to some text in tho Bible,
fit source from which to select the
"posy of a ring" agreeable to those
who submit to such ancient follies as
the well-named bonds of matrimony.
She reached for the Bible and with
unfamiliar fingers searched through it
until she found the place: Il will
very gladly spend and be spent Cor
you; though the more abundantly
love you, the less l be loved" The
beauty of the phrase caught her fancy.
She read with strange new interest
the chapter in which these words
were shrined. The touch Of human
passion came to her across the long
years and with the ring sparkling in
! her own white hand she embodied its