The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-07-28
THE LUCKY OLD RING
ev JOSEPH E. SMITH
ithaca, N. Y, Jan. 81. 100

Dear Olu Ddu. wv
been such awfully good friends abou'
everything that l thought / would teD
you how it happened.
OF course it's Jim's sister. You re
member Jim. He was one OF Tue
boys in the old frat back at Yale
You know we were both on the eleV
! en- for old Eli, and it made 1t no enc
Jolly that when got 1t for coacn
here he should get 1t for trainer, too
At first l liked Edith because sne
was Jim's sister. took her to things
and tried to give her q good time
Pretty soon, I got to like her for hei
own sake, and then finally 1t hap
pened-only after / had made a thou
sand fools of myself.
You see, since Jim and were SUCH
chums, got to know Edith pretty
we'll. and we became great friends.
II It hadn't been for the ring, II
! might never have happened. It was
q heavy Egyptian scarab, with an en-
graved setting. It was a particular
thing in the frat, and you know you
couldn't let q girl wear 1t unless you
were engaged. A scarab is supposed
; to bring luck, and mine certainly did.
Ono night had come back home
from taking Edith to . reception. J
glanced down at my hand and saw
that my ring was gone from my lit
tie finger It upset me considerably.
Not that the ring was valuable, only .
fellow hates to lose anything like
that. l could not see any way that J
could possibly have lost It. After J
had hunted everywhere I gave 1t up
Twas out of town for q week or so,
but the next time l saw Edith, you
can imagine what felt when saw
my ring on her finger. It knocked me
fiat with surprise. At first I couldn't
think of any way that she could have
gotten 1t, until at last 1t came to me,
that the night Of the reception she
had asked me to hold her muff for a
moment. My ring must have slipped
of in it then, and the next day she
probably found It,
It was the fact that she wore It
that gave me courage to speak al
last. AS long as she was Jim's sister,
knew that she must know what II
meant for a girl to wear that ring.
and so | was In a FOOLS heaven Of
happiness
It was good weather for sleighine
and 80 took Edith out the first
chance got. Nothing seemed to
come right to bring up the subject
until she took her glove off, for some
reason or other. It happened to be
on the hand that had the ring on. ]
looked at it and said:
"You know what that ring means
don't you, Edith
She looked rather surprised.
"Of course"
We were way out In the country
and guess my happiness went to my
head and made me all kinds Of q
presumptuous fool. She pulled her
hand away with a jerk. The air had
brought the color to her face, but It
was not the air which made 1t deepen.
She did not say q. word. but mat
looked at me.
But the ring" L stammeFed.
What has the ring got to DO
With"
why. you know what Il meanA
and thought you understood"
She stared ct me incredulously,
Jack, what do yeu meant douJ
uadsestand at ALL
It was my turn - stare ct her.
Why. didn't yen ind my ring 1,
your mum"
I, "Your ring In my muir! How
should It come therer"
Il lost my ring the night Of the ~
ception. and when I saw you with
that On. / thought you had found Il
Your wearing IL gave me hope for
something I had never dared dream
Of. You must know that +"
Edith looked at me . moment and
then she laughed.
This rngf It has always had 4
fascination for me- have tried to
persuade Jim to let me wear II and
he never would So when found n
On his dresser last night appropriate
"a It."
Then all Of q sudden It came over
ne what q fool I'd been. misht
have known It was Jim's, but | was
% ready In my conceit to think n
was mine that I never stopped to con.
slider anything elsa
Il don't suppose there's anything :
can sAy. am sorry to have made a
fool Of myself and have spoiled svsryI
thing"
There was . long silence After I
had headed the horse around. /
thought Of all the things I might M.
and didn't.
It must have been the courage Of
despair that made me ask:
Cant we keep on being frisnd.
only In another wayr
And then It happened. I could hard.
y believe that Edith could care for q
fellow like me.
But. Dad. here's where l come 10
the'joke Of the thing. The next time
I had on my evening coat, 1t was cold
and l dug my hands deep into nv
pockets to keep them warm. Down