Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-04-10
The Argus Daily Story
A Lost Ring-By F. A. Mitchell.
Copyrighted. 1911. by Associated Literary Bureau

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 1t 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.
''Maryp 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-
amining infinitely 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 1t over with
his claw, pecked at 1t 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 1t was
not where she had left 1t.
Her engagement ring, given her but
few days before by Joel Armstrong,
had disappeared.
There came in at the window dis
tant sound of a 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.
For heavens sake, Molly, what's
the matterf'
1.-THE ring! It's gonev'
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 ii
I'll buy you another"
But" she moaned, sit won't be that
ring. Besides, there's the bad luck"
"Of losing it,"
81 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
sillf"
Not a thing, so far as 1 know, ant
mother, who was in the house all the
time, says she heard nothing"
Anybody in the house but you
mother?"
mo"
Sure no tramp came by or til
peddler or anybody like that?"
Not a soul"
Funny, isn't it,"
There are many ways Of saying thest
last few words. Molly thought sh'
detected a tinge of incredulity in thu
way Joel spoke then. She drew ava!
and looked lugubriously on the ground
"Well, don't think any more abou
it." he said. I'm going to town OF
Saturday, and if the ring doesn't turI
up by that time I'll bring back an
other-a prettier one"
Molly said nothing by way of reply
but turned to go back to the house
while her lover started up his team.
That evening Joel Armstrong went t
the store to buy some rope. There h
met John Nudge. Nudge and Arm
strong were friends, and Armstron
told Nudge of his engagement, men
tioning the mysterious loss of the be
trothal ring Nudge looked thought
full
There's ssmep'n wrong about tn
Ashurst farm" he said. There's bee
a number Of things lost there. and til
queer thing about it is that they hav
all disappeared when there wasn't any
body about but the family"
who's wrongF"
"'Oh, / don't accuse anybody, but
don't stand to reason that thing
should disappear without somebody
take EN-"
That's Just what I've been thinl1in
, about" replied Joel. knitting b
\ | brows.
And so Joel parted with his frien'
his idea that there was somethin
wrong with the loss of the ring col
firmed. The next step was to thin
out a reason for there being somethin
wrong. especially a reason connectir
a Molly with the wrongness of It, r
couldn't conjure up any such reaso
but he explained his inability to do I
on the ground that the bigger the "a
e tality the bigger the mystery. A sus
fpfnso., thof AoIlv had naon hQnPfyad n