The Harlowton news. [volume] (Harlowton, Mont.) 1909-1914, 1910-03-11

Inc man before uer lOOheu yOuA5SA
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 faN rite
philosopher, she concluded that the
man was 25, three years older than
she at that moment, proper differ
ence in their ages for Her
face famed. She scarcely knew why,
and she turned to en- inspection of the
rings.
The first was diamond, solitaire,
of rare beauty, she judged. Alth ugh
she was not especially expert in such
matters, she deemed 1t must be OF
great value. There was no inscr1p-
ton of any sort within the narrow
hoop of gold, although she searched /
keenly the inner surface. The diamond
was CT ,iously set. There was an ex-
quisite tracery Of a 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
sheer as one of those letters of con-
vention, a wedding ring. 1t was
heavier hoop of gold much engraved
within. She washed it in the stream
and rubbed it in the sand until she
could make it out. 81. r. c." she
read, ITO M. P. T" There was date
after, September 10, 1869, and then
these cabalstic words, III. Cor. 1918,
which she presently OWNED to be
reference to some text in the Blble,
fit source from which to select the
"posy of 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 1t
until she found the place: Il will
very gladly spend and be spent for
you; though the more abundantly l
love you, the less l be loved" The
beauty of the phrase caught her fancy.
She read with a 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
tradition in personality and the WON
an who had been SO loved stood be-
fore her. Her eyes fell again upon
the man and the dream was broken.
She pieced together now all that
she had of him, smiling as she did SO
at the thought Of certain strange stor'
les she had read wherein men OF mar
velous deductive powers had brought
to solution problems which appeared
as impossible of detection as this pre-
scented to her.
John Revell Charnock, evidently the
father of the man of the island, had
married one M. P. T. on the 10th OF
September, 1869 Perhaps within q
year afterward this John Revell Char
mock, assuming him, as was likely, tt
have borne his fathers name, wa:
born. The best English stock in th'
colony were Massachusetts and Wiz
ginia. The stern piece Of the boa
borne the name of Virginia river an
of Virginia town. The man befor
her was a Virginian, therefore. Sa
he was born in 1871, it would max
him 25 years old, In accordance wit
her first guess. The father an
mother, possibly ruined by the result
of the civil war, had embarked o
some vessel to seek fortune in ne
land. Something had happened
the ship and the woman, the little be
and the dog had landed in some wa
upon these shores alone after son
horrible voyage, perhaps like that ST
had passed through. The boy mu
have been five or six years Old, ell
he would have died being deselte
The woman had, indeed, died, and Il
dog with her, and left the lad aloI
Alone he had been for score
years on that island. What Watch1
Providence? Stop! She
lieved in no Providence, What stran
mysterious fate kept him from t
fate of the other two, had preserV
him alone Tor heI!
So she wove a history out Of b
treasure trove for this man, histc
which at least satisfied her and viii
the more she reasoned about IL d
the more she tested it, seemed alb
lutely adequate and entirely CORE
Well, she had opportunity now q
she was glad She faced the fut'
calmly, recognizing her chance
her work and set about with sys
matte method, order and perslstel
to teach this man what it was TO D
human being, to give him, as rapl
as she might communicate it and
he might receive it, all the learn
she possessed, to compensate him
no further delay for those 20 years
silence.
Was it for this she had been tral
and educated at great cost OF |
and money and effort? That she Do