Evening star., 1922-04-16

way smiled and murmured, Bella.
Multa bella"
At that moment the train lurched
around curve and Obadiah's hand
gave a jerk. He saw something fash
from the box toward the floor, the
baby make a quick grab for it and
carry its hands to it's mouth. 1t
swallowed ,convulsively. Then 1t
gooed in contentment
Obadiah jumped to his feet. horror
stricken. "T-t-t-the r-r-ring" he
gasped. BIB ba -ba -baby's s-s-swal-
lowed r-r-ring!"
The Italian woman did not seem to
understand.
Obadiah grabbed the child from
the floor and pried open its mouth.
There was no ring to be seen. Only
a row of toothless gums.
Frantically he dropped upon his
knees and began searching every
where for the ring. 1t was gone.
The child had swallowed it. The pre-
cious heirloom of the Eisenmullers.
the ring of Carlotta's sainted mother,
the sacred emblem with which he was
to be wed was inside the baby! And
he was to be married in less than
half an hour! The sweat gathered
on his forehead and inside his collar.
He turned quite faint as he thought
of what his prospective father-in-laW
might say and do. He would accuse
him not only of trying to get out Of
the marriage, but Of stealing the
ring He would have him arrested
and locked up. There would be
horrid scandal. The whole wretched
story would come out in the Sunday
papers. His picture would be there,
and Carlotta's, and maybe the babys!
An X-ray. perhaps, of its little stom-
ach. 1t was too terrible to think of.
He swept the baby off the floor. threw
1t across his knees and began to slap
1t upon the back. In an instant the
mother had flown to its rescue and
her fist in his face The conductor
came in for the tickets.
"S-s-say"' stammered Obadiah.
TT that b-b-ba-ba ABBY s-s-swall-owed
s-s-s-omething of mine"
"Ah. stop kiddin' mel" remarked
the official shortly. and strolled indif-
ferently through the door.
THE Italian woman was now indiE-
nantly soothing her offspring as
ii sat in her lap across the aisle. and
casting terrified glances at Obadiah
from time to time. as il she mo-
mentarily expected him to attempt
| infanticide. while he. the innocent
cause of her apprehension. struggled
| to think what best he should do. He
! could not marry Carlotta without the
ring. That was certain. The UNDER
taker would scent something suspi-
| cious about the whole thing. If the
| wedding were not set for so soon.
| II only he had little more time
! They were flashing through the out
| skirts of Hackensack already. In a
| moment or two the train would leave
! him on the platform and puff away.
| bearing both the bapy and the ring
! He must cling to the baby in any
| event. With his professional knowl-
| edge of the law, he felt convinced
| that he had some property right in
| the contents of its tummy. Surely
| he could retain the baby until some
| thing could be done about it. He
| owned part of it, didn't he? The
! papy had committed trespass-
I a conversion-perhaps you could call
! It larceny. He had a lien. hadn't
| he? He had right to the ring even
| if he had to take the baby with it,
The train slowed down and ground
| its way into the station. Obadiah, in
a state of desperation. rushed across
and snatched the baby from the
| mothers arms. Uttering wild
scream, she fought for the possession
of it, incidentally biting his finger
nearly in two. Inspired with sud-
den solution of the difficulty. he pull
ed a roll of bills from his pocket.
J! thrust them into the mothers face,
and, gesticulating wildly. shouted with
| a burst of speech:
| You me baby - come SavvS"
! Baby-you-come- me-
| A smile slowly dawned on the Ma
donna-like face.
| ..You-lika-me? You-lika-bam-
| bino?'
! "Si. sir agreed Obadiah. pushing
! her toward the door by the shoulders.
as she stuffed the bills into her
| bosom with one hand and soothed
the baby with the other.
Alongside the platform stood the
most festive of Eisenmuller's hacks.
slyly decorated by some mischievous
relative with white ribbon upon
the axletrees. Into it Obadiah bun
!, t,1- n q
crowd which had gathered to inspect
| the bridegroom followed the carriage
down the village street and waited
| for the extraordinary wedding party
to make. its exit. The train must
| have been late, for on the porch
stood dozen or SO of Eisenmullers
and Sussmans, with the liveryman's s
| towering form in theier midst. Still
helplessly following the dictates of
| a blind instinct to retain possession
of his property, Obadiah gently
opened the door and motioned to the
| woman to get out Then he gather-
| ed up the baby-including the ring
and stepped to the sidewalk. the
| crowd pressed around him as he
J started up the walk to the front door.
The baby began to wall The mother
| followed with downcast eyes. AS in
| a blur Obadiah saw the men ana
women on the steps separate to allow
( the sardonic figure of Carlotta's S
father to struggle forward.
| whats all this?" he beloved
| quite red in the face. what have
you got there? Whose baby is THAR
| Obadiah, tried to sneak, but he