The Washington herald., 1921-08-07

without . sal.ry. but tsat could nst -
helped.
Saturday he sold the bond and w>.f around
looking At rings In jswsiry stores Monday
he resumed that oocupston. bitterly ~
preaching himself that he had thrvvn ne
ring IN the river. wednesday he bought one
which cost si.ioo. and he was positive he had
the exact duplicate Of the ring he had thrown
away. The purchass strapped him. He went
home happier than he had been for veeks.
taking the ring with him. He had many
troubles to face but he thought the worst
was over.
Al he opened the door q his nst he bard
. woman's voice In the living room saying.
And, a. everybody knows # my dear.
thought It was simply too unfair to you not
to tell you A real friend would tell yoz.
That's what kept saying to myself
Jessop was afraid to 90. into the room. but
he was afraid not to. He put his wife and
her guest on their guard by closing the door
with . bang. Then he went in and found
with his wife . woman be never had liked.
His entrance obviously destroyed the In.
dmacy and candor Of their talk.
Jessop saw that the woman's face showed
evidences Of conscious meanness His w1fe's
face showed evidences Of shock and ineredu.
lity. The woman apparently had done her
work and wanted to get away quickly, but
h.A
discreet
Did you bring the ring. Don't she asked
.Yes.- he said. Frightening. Here Il ia
Let me see it. she said. He noticed a
signincance In her tone and manner. but was
unable to interpret It. He gave her the box
in which the Jeweler had put the ring.
How did you get this bo1l- his wife
asked . This n q new one It was not IN
this when you took It downtown"
Jessop had forgotten that detail necessary
to the deceit Of substitution. and felt touch
Of cold paralysis. He could not answer for q
moment. While he was thinking Of q pIau,I-
bic excuse his wife opened the box and took
out the ring.
To his astonishment she. having looked at
# for an instant covered her eyes with her
hand. gasped. and rested her head. almost
dropped IT back, on. her chair. Her friend.
startled by this sudden demonstration.
reached over for the ring Mrs. Jessup held
in her other hand and picked II up.
why" she said. - the ring had twelve
small stones about the large ones. This has
only six"
lessor looked swkwardly at the evidence Of
his catastrophe a
of course, / was mistaken said the
woman hurriedly. 1t could not have been
twelve. / don't know how got that idea in
my head. Good-by. Mollie. must run home
to dress. Good-by. Mr.. Jessop. Wen zee you
both later. at the party"
Jessop tried to retain his eomposure
This Is not the ring" said his wife Her
voice was so charged with bitterness that he
would not have recognized IT. why isn't
It? What have you done with the other7
Why have you brought this one homer
-ot course It Is the ring. Mollie." he said
desperately.
MRS. Chase told me-" his wife said, that
Mrs. Roscoe is telling q malicious story that
my ring was not genuine. that you bought i;
in a novelty shop and told her husband I'll
about the joke in a saloon. I knew that was
not SO, but how can deny It or face It down
without the ring7 Why have you brought
this one? Where IL minel"
You have made q mistake There 4. no
other ring. That's the one took to the
safety deposit box
1T is not Any one can see instantly that
It Is not It is not even like It Why are
you trying to impose on me: What have
you to hide' Is the story true that Mrs
Roscoe II telrnsf"
-MoIlie.- said Jessop IN greater desperz.
ton. 9 to tell the truth. lost the other one
and bought one 50 nearly Ike It I thought
It was exactly like # I did not want 10
worry you BY telling you that had lost Il"
Il do not believe that she said with
oalmness which completely deceived him
You might as weil tell the truth. You could
not lose one ring so expensive and buy
another equally expensive and pass Il over
as tribe to be hidden from me What b
the TRUTH"
I've told you the truth. dariins.- he ssie
"Ilost your ring. and felt 90 sorry about
It. and knew how badly you'd feel, and
tried to deceive you. I'm 20 terribly sorry
She heard him without remark. and he
not seeing that her face was lined and hari
enins and that her gaze was fun Of hate,
reached out his hands In tenderness aud