Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-07-17
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Ring Z i.
. It Made Trouble Between Z
Two Lovers
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BY F. A. mitchell


Mary, Farmer Ashurst's daughter,
was putting her room to rights OF q
bright morning in the springtime. The
windows were up. and the warm sun
shine was pouring into the room. She
swept, busted, made her bed and when
all was finished united the strings of
her apron, took OF the covering she
had used to keep the dust out Of her
chestnut hair. and it rippled In the
sunlight. Then, pouring water into a
bowl on the washstand and removing
a ring from her finger. she laid the lat
ter carefully on the window sill and
proceeded to wash her hands.
"Maryv called her mother from be-
low.
! Mary was drying her. hands, but
went at once into the hall and, lean
ing over the banister, asked what was
wanted.
''Go out to the spring house and get
me some milk"
Hanging the towel on the banister,
Mary went downstairs and did her err
rand.
Meanwhile a jackdaw sailed from a
cote raised on huge post in the yard
and lit on the roof of the porch just
outside Mary's window. He strutted
about, pecking here and there. ex-
aiming minutely breaks between the
shingles as if looking for something.
and not finding anything to interest
hoped up on to the window SILL
The moment he caught sight of
Mary's ring its sparkle was reflected
in his eyes. He turned it over with
his claw. pecked at it with his beak,
then threw his head back and laugh
ed: OF all the odds and ends, bits of
tin, broken crockery, spools, hairpins
and such other articles he had pur-
Joined this was his richest find. He
danced about it for awhile, evidently
wondering how it was made and why
it was so beautiful and how it came
to be right there for him on the win
dow sill. Then, hearing Mary coming
up the stairs, he took it up in his beak
and, spreading his wings, few with it
to the cote on the top Of the high post
A moment later Mary came back into
her room and discovered that it was
not where she had left it.
Her engagement ring. given her but a
few days before by Joel Armstrong,
had disappeared. 49,
There came in at the window a dis
tant sound Of mans voice urging on
his horses while blowing. 1t was Jo-
els. Molly ran downstairs and across
the fields toward her lover. Joel saw
her coming and at the turn pulled in
his horses.
II ,.For heavens sake, Molly, what's
the matter?'' ..
1.-THE ring! It's gone!'
He put his arm about her. and she
told the story of the mysterious disap
pearance.
"Well, sweetheart" he said, when
she had finished, IF you don't find it
I'll buy you another
But" she moaned, lit won't be that
ring. Besides, there's the bad luck.'
'Of losing it,"
Il mean it'll bring bad luck"
"Oh, no, it won't. That's idle super.
stition. Tell me. did anything occur
while you were gone to the spring
house to knock the ring off the window
sill?"
Not thing, SO far as l know, and
mother, who was in the house all the
time, says she heard nothing"
ANYBODY in the house but your
mother?"
mo"
"Sure no tramp came by or tin
peddler or anybody like that?"
mot soul.'
"Funny, isn't it?"
There are many ways of saying these
last few words. Molly thought she
detected tinge of incredulity in the
way Joel spoke then. She drew away
and looked lugubriously on the ground.
s."Well, don't think any more about
It," he said I'm going to town Oh
Saturday, and if the ring doesn't turn
up by that time I'll bring back an
other-a prettier one"
Molly said nothing by way of reply.
but turned to 60 back to the house,
while her lover started up his team.
That evening Joel Armstrong went to
the store to buy some rope. There he
met John Nudge. Nudge and Arm
strong were friends. and Armstrong
told Nudge of his engagement, men,
tioning the mysterious loss of the be-
trothal ring Nudge looked thought
| full. .y-
There's ssmep'n wrong about the
Ashurst farm" he said There's been
number of things lost there. and the
queer thing about it is that they have
all disappeared when there wasn't any.
body about but the family"
who's wrong?' r. H.
-'Oh, don't accuse anybody. but it
don't stand to- reason that things
should disappear without somebody to
take 'em." -: n
THAT'S just what I've been thinking
shout, replied Joel, knitting his
brOws. -, ~. Is, 81
And 80 Joel parted with his friend.
his idea that there was something
wrong with the loss of the ring con-
frmed. The next step was to think
ont reason for there being something
wrong. especially a reason connecting
Molly with the wrongness of It, He
couldn't conjure up any such reason
but he explained his inability to do 80
on the ground that the bigger the ras-