Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1917-10-26


me every time | started TO use it,"
why. have the very thing!" ex-
claimed Arnold, buoyed up by an in
| spring thought After mother died
| father gave me all her old trinkets.
! There is bloOdstone ring she had
when she was a little girl like you.
I'll bring it to you tomorrow, and
whenever you start to use your left
hand the sight of the ring will remind
| you"
That was the beginning of an idyllic
| experience. For the next five years
| those two were almost inseparable.
| Nellie's left-handedness was cured, al
though she always insisted on greet
| ing Arnold with the left hand.
Nearest my heart, you know" she
would say with bright smile.
1t was proud day for Arnold when
he and Nellie graduated from school,
both with unusual marks of merit. Ar
! mold gave her beautiful bouquet and
saw her home from the class banquet
| that evening. Leaning over the garden
gate in the moonlight, he caught the
glimmer of the ring Nellie always
wore.
why! You have changed it from
finger to finger as they grew" ex-
| claimed Arnold, until it is on-what
do you think? Your engagement fin
ger!"
Nellie blushed; her hand, nesting
in his, twitched and trembled. Her
mother called her just then, but Ar
mold Wayne left her with secret re-
solve to tell her of his love very soon.
Alas for youthful hopes! Within a
week his father decided to remove to
| Canada, where relative had left him
| a great farm. And the hurry and
hustle of hurried departure Arnold
| Others were present. He could only
whisper to her: II am coming back
some day." and she had murmured
softly: 81 shall count the days you
are gone"
Almost Immediately after reaching
the far northern farm land Mr. Wayne
was taken ill and later became entire
ly incapacitated for work. Young as he
was, Arnold was compelled to assume
all the responsibility of managing the
| farm. He did not shirk the duty. His
care and patience extended to cross
| grained stepmother and her three chill
dren. Once he wrote to Nellie. He
received no answer.
AT the end of five years Mrs. Wayne
married again. The farm had thriven
and Arnold offered to sell out his in
| terest to his stepmother. He received
sufficient to make him comfortable for
life. He was lonely for the city and
old acquaintance and friends. The
evening that he was packing up he
| came across a fond memento of the
pasta carnelian heart that pretty,
Nellie Ross had given him in exchange
for the bloodstone ring that eventful
| schoolday in the now dim and misty
| long ago.
! How a memory of that scene in the
| far past thrilled him. It seemed as
| though a secret door within his inmost
| soul had been abruptly unlocked. He
| hungered for a sight of the little fairy
| who had grown up in his life as a
sentient part of his being.
| Arnold had for a long time won
| dered why work, wealth and success
| had seemed vapid and dull to him. He
| knew now. He must have an object
| to love. He set his face southwark
| and his first destination was his native
| village.
| He sought the Ross family, but in
| vain. He learned that within month
after his departure their home had
| burned down and they had removed to
neighboring town. Arnold traced
| them there to find that the father had
died. The family was broken up and
| scattered. At the end of month Ar
mold gave up an apparently useless
| quest. He went to the city, took up
| bachelors quarters and planned to in
vest his capital in some business in
| the metropolis.
One afternoon, turning a crowded
street corner, Arnold made spring as
he saw little child crossing the thor
| oughfare directly in the path OF q
| speeding automobile and all uncon-
scious of her peril. Just in time he
seized her, but the fender of the ma
chine struck his arm, hurting him to
the ground. The little one was terri
fed and hysterical. A policeman led
both to the nearest drug store.
"Only slight bruise," the attending
| physician told Arnold, as he examined
his arm and applied soothing lotion.
'You, little one, can thank this gentle
man for saving your life
The child lifted her eyes gratefully
| to the face of Arnold and placed her
hand confidingly within his own. AS
she did so Arnold gave vivid start
Upon one finger he noted ring-a
bloodstone ring-his ring, given to Mel
lie Ross years ago. Oh, he could not
mistake it,
81 will see this little one safely
home, <he said, and with her left the
| drug store.
Where did she live. With Aunty
| Nellie.