Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1916-08-04
Tale of a Lost
Engagement Ring
By ETHEL HOLMES

Rociatlng with that THIEF Ralph Cum
mlngs? DO you wish to he ostraclsel
by all your frlendsY
A singular expression came over Miss
RathbQne's face, an expression that
cannot be described, though some idea
OF II may be formed by an understand
ing Of what caused IT,
THAT thief rs you call him, is my
fiance,"
"Your danceW
Eyes, we will be married next month.
/ shall acquNlnt you with the story
attending Ralph's being considered
thief, after which you viii be able to
form an opinion of my reasons for
marrying man so branded, You are
my sister and have a right 10 know
them"
"Why may not all the world know
themf"
"That you will understand when
you have heard the story, When the
Tophams gave their house party the
episode occurred which branded Ralph
as thief, You were not there; ! was.
One afternoon all the automobiles on
the place were got out, and the whole
party was taken on ride, ! wore a
short astrakhan Jacket with pocket
on each side, OF course We We're plcn-
tifully supplied with robes When we
returned, before taking or our wraps
Alfred Topham asked W. into the din
ing room TO warm up, as he expressed
II. We all gathered around the side
board and were warming up when
servant stepped up to All and handed
him n little box that had come by eX-
press during his absence on the auto
ride. We all knew that All had been
attentive to Evelyn Mansfield and one
Of the men very indelicately cried out;
Its the engagement ring, Let's
see 1t, All.
"Alf opened the box ana took out
ring set with a ruby between two dia
monds. 1t was passed from one to an
other for inspection while the men con
tlnued to warm up, We spent some
fifteen or twenty minutes in the din
ing room, and when we were about to
separate All sang out
who's got my rlng?'
Every one looked at every one else
but no one produced the ring For a
time 1t was supposed that it would be
Forthcoming, but since 1t did not ap-
pear ATS brows began to knit We
all joined in search for it, on the
floor, under the furniture. The ring
was not found. The matter began to
look serious. Had some one Of the
guests purloined it? All, being host,
of course could not suggest such a
thing. but his chum, Ned Thurston,
presently said;
II offer myself to be searched, and
l daresay that all of You will volunteer
for the same thing
Everybody volunteered except Ralph
He said that he must demur to such a
process We were all supposed to be
ladies and gentlemen, and it would be
an insult to each and every one of us
to search us.
1t took the party some time to digest
what he had said, but the prevailing
opinion was against 1t. All settled the
matter by saying that he would rather
lose the ring than put an indignity on
any guest Of his and forbade the
search. Nearly every one considered
Ralph's objection virtual admission
of guilt. 1t was believed that he had
taken the ring, not toreseeing that he
would SO soon be caught with it on his
person, and was obliged to choose be-
tween the course he took and full eX-
posure. He did not wait to receive the
cold shoulder, but left during the after
noon.
The blow fell as hard on me as it
did on him. l had received nearly all
his attention while at the Tophams,
and the announcement of our engage
ment was expected before the party
broke up. | didn't know what to do
or say in the matter, so l took no
course whatever, declining to express
an opinion. But it was not pleasant
for me to remain after what had oc-
Cured, and | made an excuse to go
away the next day They were all
very nice to me, urging me to stay 1t
out.
soon after my arrival at home
was called to the telephone, and Ralph
spoke to me.
"'Have you found ALI Topham's
ringT he asked
"'Have I found a ring? Do you
mean to accuse me Of being the thief?
"Look in the pocket Of the jacket
you wore on the auto ride. I have
hoped you had found it. God grant
it's there
81 was thunderstruck. On entering
the dining room after the ride my
jacket being too warm for the heated
room 7 had taken it off and laid it on
q chair in a corner Of the room. Tell
ing Ralph to hold the wire, ran to
a closet in my room, thrust my hand
into the pocket of my astrakhan jacket
and took out the ring.
Running back to the phone, | told |
Ralph what | had done He begged |
me not to utter a word to any one