The Richmond climax. (Richmond, Ky.) 1897-1914, 1911-11-15
NUMBER p

secret OF life according to her favOrite
philosopher. she concluded that the
man was 25. three years Oldar than
she at that moment, a proper differ
enee in their ages for Her
face famed She scarcely knew why.
and she turned to an inspection Of the
rings
The first was a diamond. a solitaire,
Of rare beauty, she judged. Although
she was not especially expert in sucr
matters. she deemed il must be o
great value. There was no inscrip
ton Of any sort within the narroVI
hoop Of gold. although she searched
keenly the inner surface. The diamonCI
was curiOusly set. There was an ex
quisite traeery Of little coat OF arms
on either side Of the setting. done IL
miniature but with a skin 10 marve
at, too small even for her brilliant
vision TO decipher in detail
The other she recognized with al
sheer as one Of those letters Of con-
vention, a wedding ring. Il was Al
heavier hoop Of gold much engraved
within. She washed II in the stream
and rubbed il in the sand until she
could make il out j. r C." she
read, to VI. p. T." There was a date
after. September 10, 1859. and then
these eabalistic words. II. Cor. 12:15."
whieh she presently OWNED to be a
reference to some text in the Bible.
fit source from which to select the
'posy of a ring" agreeable TO those
who submit to such ancient fOllies as
the wsIl-named bonds of matrimony.
She reached for the Bible and with
unfamiliar fingers searched through Il
until she found the place. Il will
very gladly spend and be spent for
you; though the more abundantly I
love you. the less I 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
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 NJ. P. T. on the 10th OF
September, 1869. Perhaps within a
year afterward this John Reven Char
mock, assuming him, as was likely. TO
have borne his fathers name. was
born, The best English stock in the
colony were Massachusetts, and Vir-
ginia. The stern piece OF the boat
borne the name Of a Virginia river and
Of a Virginia town. The man before,
her was a Virginian, therefore. Sayl
he was born in 1871. il would make
him 25 years old, in accordance with
her first guess. The father and
mother, possibly ruined by the results
of the civil war. had embarked on
some vessel to seek a fortune in a new
land. Something had happened to
the ship and the woman. the little boy
and the dog had landed in some way
upon these shores alone after some
horrible voyage, perhaps like that she
had passed through. The boy must
have been five or six years old. else
he would have died being deserted
The woman had, indeed. died, and the
dog with her. and left the lad alone.
Alone he had been for a score Of
years on that island. What watchful
Providence? Stop, She be
lieved in no Providence. What strange
mysterious fate kept him from the
fate Of-the other two. had preserved
him alone for herr
So she wove a history out OF her
treasure trove for this man. a history
which at least satisfied her and which
the more she reasoned about il and
the more she tested il. seemed ALSO
lutely adequate and entirely correct.
Well. she had opportunity now and
she was glad. She faced the future
calmly, recognizing her chance and
her work and set about with syste-
matte method. order and persistence
to teach this man what it was to be a
human being. to give him. as rapidly
as she might communicate IL and as
he might receive il. all the learning
she possessed. to compensate him with
no further delay for those 25 years Of
silence.
Was it for this she had been trained
and educated at great cost Of time
and money and effort? That she being
a woman should give il all to this
one man without money and without
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