The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-04-09
A Lost
Ring
1t Made Trouble Between
Two Lovers
By F. A. mitchell


Mary, Farmer Ashurst's daughter,
was putting her room to rights of a
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 off the covering she
had used to keep the dust out of her
chestnut hair. and it rippled in the
sunlight. Then, pouring water into
bowl on the washstand and removing
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-
aiming 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 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
# was so beautiful and how 1t 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 1t
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 it.
Her engagement ring, given her but
few days before by Joel Armstrong,
had disappeared.
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.
For heavens sake. Molly, what's
the matter?"
"The ring! It's goneP'
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 il
I'll buy you another
But" she moaned. 1T won't be thai
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?"
Not SOUL"
Funny. isn't itY
There are many ways Of saying these
last few words. Molly thought she
detected a tinge of incredulity in the
way Joel spoke then. She drew away
and looked lugubriously on the ground
well. don't think any more about
it," he said I'm going to town on
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 go 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
''There's sSmep'n wrong about thu
Ashurst farm" he said There's been
a number of things lost there, and the
queer thing about 1t is that they have
all disappeared when there wasn't any
body about but the family"
who's wrong"
''Oh, I don't accuse anybody. but Il
don't stand to reason that things
should disappear without somebody to
take EN-"
'That's Just what I've been thinking
about" replied Joel. knitting his
brows.
And so Joel parted with his friend.
his idea that there was something
wrong with the loss Of the ring con
firmed. The next step was to think
out reason for there being something
wrong. especially reason connecting
Molly with the wrongness of it. He
couldn't conjure up any such reason,
but he explained his inability to do SC
on the ground that the bigger the ras
CAVITY the bigger the mystery. A sus-
picion that Molly had been deprived OF
the ring in some other way that she
did not wish him to know crept in and
took possession Of him. He did not try
to see Molly till the next evening; then
he went to her house. and the moment
he entered she knew that he had
changed toward her. He sat down be-
side her and began to question her as
a lawyer would cross examine a wit
ness.
'eTell me every person who was in
the house during the day you lost the
ring"
NO one except father and mother
and me-"
"Who was here the day beforeT
what has that to do with it?''
at might have something to do with
It."
'HowP'
Never mind that; tell me-"
Molly began to draw back within
herself. There was something In both
the question and Joel's manner in ask
ing it. seeming to indicate that she
was herself involved in this investiga-
ton.
There was some one here the even
ing before the ring was lost. but I'd