The Raymer enterprise., 1923-01-11
THE BRACELET
BY JANE GORDON
tss is,s. western Newspaper unien. !,

his adventurous afternoon. This. per
haps because he hnd been forced TO
ride In a saddle instead Of the Gus
tomary automobile And because In
the woodland path he had met Il
charming maid clad In q scarlet cape.
Aunt Martha, the erratic and uncer-
tain. had sent him upon this errand to
the far wood In search Of an old house
which she had seen advertised In the
city paper.
She had made known her Intention
uf leaving Grant her heir.
She wanted this Walden house. she
explained, as refuge from friends
both social and charitable. --
u can go and come there as l
please" she told her favorite nephew,
"and ! hope, Grant, that you will fin,l
the place as promising as the adver-
tlsement reads"
Grant had found the isolated coun-
try beautiful. even In the winters first
fall of SNOW. Then, rs though In
answer TO his wish for direction.
the young woman Of the scarlet cnpe
appeared. She came TO view from be-
hind an evergreen tree and the hood
Of her cape, falling back, disclosed
golden-brown hair. rufiied and wavy
The girls brown eyes. meeting his,
were startled-wide like chIlds But
to Grants question she merely
stretched forth a white arm to point
the way. and before she had with
drawn the arm into the fold Of her
cape his attention was attracted to a
strange black bracelet that she wore
Flashing from Its center was a great
white stone.
Silently the girl hurried on. But
her image stayed with him as he rode
toward Walden house, and Grant had
gone on smiling ut the romance.
An elderly woman gave him en-.
trance to the house ut the end uf the
wood. She was a friend Of the new
owner, she told him, occupying the
place with her until such time as II
| should be sold. Grant decided, after
a view Of the quaint well.kept rooms.
that the house would exactly suit his
aunt.
Returning In the early twilight Of
the winter afternoon he felt thrill
OF anticipation nj the possibility Of
second vision Of the woodland maid.
And she had passed him again. re-
turning from her walk. Her arm
waved II parting salute to him. Grant
saw the flash Of the black bracelet rs
the moon came to light the darkening
way,
'Walden house7" the lnnkeeper an
swered his questiOn-"Oh. yes l know
It well. The place came to the pres
ent owner through n legacy. It's quite
a story. Belonged to Miss Patience
Walden long years ago. Patience had
a lover when she was young, and he
gave her bracelet--sO they say-a
queer black bracelet with n, white
stone In It. Then they quarreled just
before the wedding, and the lover mar
ried another woman Folks said it was
because Of the black betrothal brace
let that he had given Patience.
"As years passed Patience grew
lonely and sent for niece to come
and live with her. Daisy Walden was
a happy singing creature. remember
ber well. But one day when she was
wearing the bracelet her aunt had
loaned her rs treat-well, Daisy lost
II along the woodland path and that
terrible old woman In her rage ac-
cused her niece Of stealing the trinket
and Daisy was sent away. We read
In the city papers later Of her mar
riage In the home Of the relatives who
hnd taken her In.
"And still later, when Daisy had a
little girl Of her own, her tender heart
forgave the lonely old woman In Wal
den house, and she wrote a loter say
Ing that she and the baby, Patience,
would come to her aunt for visit.
But old Patience still hugged her spite
and would have none Of them.
.Then, home came Jennie Wells, who
had been AWAY since the time Of her
marriage many years before. And
when Jennie heard about old Patience
and her long spite, Jennie told all in
nncently, Of bracelet she'd found he.
fore she went away and thought moth
Ing Of Its value--lt was somewhere
among her trlnkets--so she found 1t
and took II TO Patience.
IN her relnorse Patience drew up a
will leaving all she had to Daisy's
young daughter--the black bracelet
with the rest. And only now Daisy
Waldens daughter comes on to claim
her legacy and to sell the property.
"But l." added the innkeeper with
an ominous shake OF his head. would
rather not see that black bracelet of
misfortune upon that sweet young
creatures arm"
Grant rode again that night down
the narrow path Of the wood. An un.
controllnble impulse carried him there,
and though ne was eagerly hoping, yet
he was not expecting to see--her--
there. At the crosspath she stood rs
though waiting-the elder woman Of
the big house was with her His wood.
land maid smiled.
| "Wp were on our Way IN thp inn to