Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1915 — A RING AND A GIRL [ARTICLE]

A RING AND A GIRL

By ROBERT RUSSELL.

(Copyright.) Buzz-zz-zz! . \ I yawned, stretched, glanced at the clock, and jumped hastily out of bed. It was nearly nine o’clock, and I had been awakened by the buzzer of our apartment. I was accustomed to being called in the morning by my mother, and as she was away on this particular dgy, I had overslept Scarcely awake, I slipped on my bathrobe and slippers, opened the door a bit, and received from the lad standing there four suits of clothes that had been to the tailor’s for rejuvenation. Blinking, I got the requisite two dollars from my pocketbook, paid the lad, and hurriedly made my toilet for the day, thinking meanwhile of the delicious coffee and toast and boiled eggs which my mother was in the habit of preparing for me, and which I would not get on this particular morning.

But as it was so late when I was finally ready for public appearance, I decided to wait till I had put in an appearance at the office before breakfasting, and I went directly to the subway station near at hand. —— My hand in my change pocket, as I stood before the ticket window, suffered a shock. There was nothing there except four pennies and two keys. * And I remembered well enough now that I had no bills.

It was Saturday, and pay day, but that benefited me little, when I was here at One Hundred and Sixteenth street, and the office on lower Broadway. I had given my last two dollars to the boy from the tailor shop, and now I had not enough money to get down town. If I had not been so sleepy when the lad had come with my clothes I would have remembered my unusual financial condition. Of course, I could walk down town, hut that would take over two hours, and I was late as it was. Perhaps the ticket agent would lend me a penny, but I could not get myself to beg it of him.

Of course, all sorts of ideas flashed through my mind, but each involved explaining my predicament to someone. A flash from my ring gave me an Inspiration. I would pawn it for my car fare and return that afternoon after I had received my pay and redeem it Across Morningside park, on Eighth avenue, I had noticed a place where the three golden balls gave promise of help to the needy. My aunt had sent me ten dollars about a week before, telling me to get airing for my birthday with the money, and the ring I now took off was the one I had procured. “How much do you want?” asked the proprietor. “Twenty-five cents,” I replied faintly. He looked at me a moment in apparent surprise. “Better take a dollar,” he replied. "It won’t cost any more in interest.” “All right.” All 1 wanted to do was to get out of the shop as fast as possible. “Your name and address?” he inquired, making out the ticket. 2 I had not reckoned on this, and did not like the idea of having those facts on record in such a place, so I gave a fictitious name and a false address, I remembered now having heard an acquaintance of mine say that he always did that The man finished making his entry In the book and on the ticket, and laid the latter on the counter while he got the money for me. I arrived at the offlce < a little after ten o’clock, explained truthfully that I had overslept and slipped out to get some breakfast All through the day the finger on which I had worn the ring seemed to cry out, and when I received my weekly salary I felt as though one dollar of it did not belong to me.

It was late in the afternoon that the telegram came. The girl I hoped to marry was \o arrive in the city for a short visit to her aunt and uncle, the latter being Eleanor’s guardian. I was to meet her, of course. A sudden chill shot through me when I remembered that I had written her all about the unique ring I had purchased, and realized that, with her interest in odd bits of jewelry, she would want to see it at once. But when the office closed and I left to meet Eleanor at the Grand Central station I put such worries from me in the anticipation of seeing her again. It had been a long time since we had been together. She was just as beautiful as ever, and, as- I expected, spoke almost immediately about the ring. I was careful to have my gloves on and turned her inquiry off, saying that I would show it to her that gvening. For we were to be happy. I was to w>ii at her aunt’s, meet her uncle and guardian for the first time, and get his. permission to marry his ward. We knew that there would be little difficulty over the matter, for he had as much as given his consent already, though I was personally unknown to him. Leaving Eleanor at the door of her aunt’i home, I started in a rush for the “loan office.” It was riearly six g’clock, and I had been informed that such places were compelled to close at that Jbout- I haul to run two blocks at top speed, and even then I just succeeded in getting in before the, fatal hour had arrived. . Presenting my ticket, I laid a two*

flniUr bill OB the counter and waited eagerly for the cherished ring. “You got ten dollars, on that,” said the pawnbroker. I glanced at the ticket for the first Hm« sure enough, that was the amount specified, hut I knew that I had received only one dollar. “I guess you made a mistake," I replied, a bit angrily. I had hearji that these men were sometimes crooked, but this was outrageous. The fellow had the ring in his hands now, and was unwrapping the paper which was about it T glanced at the thing. It was not mine!-Then I looked at the ticket. The name there was not the one I had given. There was a terrible mistake somewhere. “That isn't my ring!" Icrjed. “Mine was entirely different from that” “This is a pretty good ring, however,” smiled the man. Evidently he thought that I was bluffing. “But I want my own,” I remonstrated. . , The fellow turned away In'disgust “You presented this ticket” he replied. “You can have the ring that this calls for, and no other, if you pay the loan and interest Take it or leave it”

My mind worked rapidly. . I must have a ring, and this was truly a beautiful one, much more valuable than mine. If there had beep a mistake somewhere I would be much better off to have this one, for if the owner wanted it back he would have to get mine for me. In some way the rings must have been exchanged, and I must have the ticket belonging to the man who had mine. Anyway, I wanted to get out of the place as quickly as 1 could. “All right,” I said, handing over the necessary sum. “Give me the ring. I will leave my real name and address, and if anyone calls with a ticket that does not belong to him, und wants this ring back, I’ll be only too glad to exchange if he will pay the difference." The transaction was completed, and I left the place with the dazzling thing on my finger. It was the most peculiar piece of jewelry I have ever seen. Eleanor and I had a very happy half hour together, but I was consumed with the desire to talk to her guardian and begged her to let me have it over with. She had admired the ring tremendously and expressed the opinion that it was very valuable. “I am going to leave you with uncle,” she said, as she led the way to his study. “It might be a little embarrassing for me.” So she took me to the door of the old man’s den, introduced me to him and with a blush was gone. \ “I am an outspoken man,” he said when we were alone, “and I do not believe in beating about the bush. I know very little of you, sir, but Eleanor is old enough to know her own mind, and it seems that she has made it up most emphatically. Perhaps I am a bit of a sentimentalist, and there is but one "thing I want to aak you.” He stopped a moment and looked me straight in the eyes, his scrutiny intense. \

—"I want to hear you say,” he continued at last, “that you love Eleanor. I want you to put all the feeling you have in that statement, so that I may judge for myself just how deep that feeling is.” Now, if there was. one thing I felt I could do, it was to tell of my love for that girl. 7" I moved to the table by which he sat. I presume that my eyes filled with tears. At any rate, I laid my hand on the table close to him, where the bright light from the lamp shone brilliant. “I love —” I began. Bht he was looking at my eyes no longer. His head was bent. Suddenly he rose. “I know nothing of you,” he cried, and now he was quite a different sort of a person. “You may be an adventurer —or worse.” Then his voice rose to a shrill cry. “Where did you get my ring—my ring that was stolfen from me night before last? Where did you get it?” His trembling finger was pointed at my hand, and I fear that my hand trembled. I was speechless, and my confusion was plain. He was trembling all over and I saw him press a button on the cprner of the table. To save my life I could not speak. How could I explain the complicated circumstance? My glance fell to the floor. “I —I; —” I stammered. Then I heard him speak again, but not to ma “Jenkins,” he said to someone who had evidently answered his ring at the bell, “tell Miss Eleanor to please come here at once.” “Yes, sir," I heard a voice. Suddenly I looked up. There before me in the doorway stood an old gentleman I had Been that morning in the pawn shop. He saw the ring. With a groan, the old fellow fell Into a chair. It developed that he had stolen his master’s ring, pawned it and, in our nervousness, the tickets lying side by side, he had picked up mine and I his. I got my own ring the next day, and now have my own girL