The daily Alaskan., 1915-01-29
A DIAMOND
 RING
By M. QUAD
Copyright. 1914, by Associated Lit-
 erary Press,

as q 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 a certain Tuesday 1 took train at Elmer Junction for London, and as there were but few passengers l had a compartment to myself. l had been busy with a newspaper for half an hour when l noticed a small package lying under the opposite seat l found 1t a plain pasteboard box and was pre- pared to find q specimen of free chew ing gum or new brand of troches in- side. It was something different how ever. It was q lady's diamond ring, made up of i've stones of the puresr water, and on the inside were the in' itIals "B F." The ring was a double hoop of gold and had probably been made to order. It was lying closely in the box, and the box had once contain ed steel pens. argued that 1t must have been some careless person who carried a valuable ring in that fashion.
 I am only q fairly honest man. My first idea was to keep the ring to my own profit, but remembered thar l was known to the railway porter and that the property might be traced to ne.
 If not strictly honest I am prudent. and 1 therefore gave up the idea Of converting the ring. would hold 1t for a reward. however. Half an hour later felt d 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 aStonishmcnt 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 l had no great amount of money to my cred it. l would hunt up the owner of that ring, and if all things went well l would marry her. For week 1 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 l therefore went to the expense Of advertising in five different papers. simply stated that dia- mond ring had been found on a rail. road train and asked the loser to cor respond.
 Inside of three days l received about l50 letters in reply. The l50 writers were fakers and liars. and the true loser had not answered me. was a bit netted at this neglect on her part.
 l advertised again. This time 1 ask ed "B. P." to communicate with ne tn case she had lost anything. There were just 1O7 "B. F." answers. but among them l selected one which ap- peared to be genuine. This "B. F." had lost a double hoop diamond ring containing five stones. It had been lost on q railroad train and was a birthday gift from a dead mother. l was asked to call at the chambers of a certain solicitor to have the ring fur ther identified. l was on hand at the appointed hour. So was a stern faced and aggressive looking householder, to- gether with a slick looking villain whom had once spotted for detec- tive and a young woman whose hair was red instead of blond. The ring was speedily identified by the stern faced mun and red headed girl. "B. F." was Bertha Perkins, and her Ia ther and her maId were before me. Perkins was @ country squire, and on the night previous to my finding the ring his daughters jewels had been stolen. The hoop ring was part of the plundcr.
 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 a few hours before the robbery, and that villain Of detective was only too glad to snap the handcuTS on my wrists and hurry me off to jail.
 It 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 l was locked up. l came out of jail determined to secure reparatiOn. Old Perkins had helped the red headed girl to conclude that I was the robber, and went down to his country seat to receive an abject apology or pull his nose. He not only refused an apology. but threatened to kick me off the grounds, and the red beaded girl declared l had a cast in my left eye, and by that cast she would swear me in any court as a man who would not stop at murder. There was one more thing to be clear d up wanted to find out about 'R r" berSelC. Was she the blond