The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1914-11-27
A DIAMOND
RING
By M. Quad
Copyright. 1914, ny Associated Lit
erary Press

- u
If any one had tod my friends that
was possessed of the slightest spark
of romance at the age of forty five the
information would have been received
as Il base canard. A bachelor of that
age, who has drifted about with all
sorts of people and bumped up against
all sorts of adventures, is pretty sure
to have had all romance knocked out
of him
On certain Tuesday ! took train
at Elmer Junction for London. and as
there were but few passengers | had
compartment to myself. had been
busy with a newspaper for half an
hour when | noticed small package
lying under the opposite seat. ! found
it plain pasteboard box and was pre-
pared to find specimen of free chew
ing gum or new brand of troches in
side 1t was something different. how.
ever. 1t was lady's diamond ring,
made up of Eve stones of the purest
water, and on the inside were the in
itials 'B. p" The ring was double
hoop of gold and had probably been
made to order 1t was lying closely in
| the box, and the box had once contain
ed steel pens argued that it must
have been some careless person who
carried valuable ring in that fashion
am only a fairly honest man. My
first idea was to keep the ring to my
own profit, but ! remembered that
was known to the railway porter and
that the property might be traced to
me.
If not strictly honest l am prudent.
and | therefore gave up the idea of
converting the ring. would hold 1t
for reward. however Half an hour
later felt curious sensation stealing
over me | began TO feel sentimental
| began to connect that dear little ring
with dear little blond haired. blue
eyed girl. got up and kicked myself
three times and called myself fool.
but the feeling did not go away. To
my establishment and Indignation
found it growing stronger. and before
I knew it the grip Of romance had got
me by the neck
l was man of leisure, though had
no great amount of money.t to my cred
1t. | would hunt up the owner of that
ring, and if all things went well |
would marry her For week watch
ed all the newspapers. but the ring
was not advertised. This seemed to
prove to me that the owner was either
rich and Indifferent to her loss or that
for some reason the loss had not yet
been discovered Romance made me
anxious, and therefore went to the
expense of advertising in five different
papers simply stated that dia
mond ring had been found on rail
road train and asked the loser to cor.
respond.
Inside of three days | received about
$50 letters in reply. The $50 writers
were takers and liars, and the true
loser had not answered me. was a
bit nettled at this neglect on her part.
advertised again This time | ask
ed "B F." to communicate with me in
case she had lost anything. There
were Just 101 "B r." answers. but
among them selected one which ap-
peared to be genuine. This "B. P"
had lost a double hoop diamond ring
containing five stones 1t had been
lost on railroad train and was
birthday gift from dead mother.
was asked to call at the chambers OF
a certain solicitor to have the ring fur
Their identified. | was on hand at the
appointed hour. So was stern faced
and aggressive looking householder. to-
gether with a slick looking villain
whom had once spotted for a detec-
tive and a young woman whose hair
was red instead of blond. The ring
was speedily identified by the stern
faced man and red headed girl. "B.
P" was Bertha Perkins. and her ia.
Their and her maid were before me.
Perkins was country squire. and on
the night previous to my finding the
ring his daughters jewels had tseen
stolen. The hoop ring was part of the
plumber
OF course was ready to hand over
the ring. but it wasn't to stop there.
The red headed maid was sure she
recognized me as the man who was
hanging about the grounds few hours
| before the robbery. and that villain Of
a detective was only too glad to snap
the handouts on my wrists and hurry
me off to jail.
1t took me three days to prove my
self respectable and to establish an
alibi. They had to give me my liberty.
but it was grudgingly done. and the
detective said he'd have an eye on me
all the rest of my days. The romance
had departed when | was locked up. |