Show RECOVERING A RING f i Virginia asked mo to take her out for r i I I a row So I of course tucked a big rod 1 cushion under each arm and straightway straight-way went down to the bbathouse for > Virginia had promised herself to mo In marriage and I perforce obeyed her always and implicitly as Is the custom cus-tom In such CRHCH I had been staying for some weeks with her people who hud a country house on the western shore of lake well the name doesnt matter We had been together a great deal and I had learned to read Virginias moods from tho expression of her adorable little mouth On this particular occasion her lips Were pressed tightly together which symptom meant In my code that t a storm was brewing and so after l her ladyship had settled herself com j fortubly among the cushions I saying f nothing sculled steadily away from the shore for some minutes And besides I It wan one of those gorgeous autumn I afternoons that make one silent Little I wlllothewlsps of sunlight were dang j cln dan-g with the ripples on the surface of the lake The trees on shore like coquettes co-quettes who are conscious of having j I lost the full bloom of thptr beauty had dressed themselves in gaudy suits of scarlet and orange as 1C hoping by I I brilliancy of color to hIde the tragedy I of decay that makes autumn so Inn I nltely pathetic Ever and anon an adventurous j ad-venturous trout would spring out of tho water to look at the deep blue of the sky and great golden bumblebees went buzzing over our heads In their transit across the lake In search of fresh plunder Watching these things I was almost unmindful of VirgInias presence and I started when she said sharply Youie not very amusing this afternoon after-noon I smiled an answer whereupon she i Immediately cleared decks for action I and said with a fine air of irony If only vour dear Mrs Carruthers were here youwould soon find plenty to say Im sure the way you went on with her at lunch was simply disgrace ful Not that I am Jealous of her You neednt think that Mrs Carruthers was a fellow guest of mine who possessed a grerNngnj of the alluring qualities of dfrjjfrsK Widow Shes a horrid lllrt Vlrglel I Sho Is and you know It You cant call her pretty I Well dear I suppose I maynt but I have heard lots of fellows say they thought she was a brick Brick or no brick shes 40 if shes ft day She probably Is a day but 40no Shall we say 3U This was Ingenious on my part see Ing that Virginia and I both knew that v Mrs Carruthers was not yet 20 Virginia flushed and looked at me with her lower lip quivering George when you are sarcastic I al most hate you Dear said I reproachfully accen tuating the e vowel sound to make the little word seem more caressing I wish I had never met you I hato being engaged anyway and we seem to be always quarreling It takes two to make a quarioMifr1 J gle and Im sure J vci Vlr tempers vjilP1i in the best of That yaI Et Wl mo aggravating part of It treJltI = 3u sit there smiling and I cant make you angry I + To my shame be It said I burst out laughing The moment utter I was sorry for the tears began to gather In her eyes and I cant bear that and more ominous still she was fidgeting with her engagement ring Now this really alarmed me As a rule our engagement I en-gagement was broken and recemented once a week Only the afternoon be fore we had gone through the ceremony cere-mony If It were going to happen once every day there were elements of danger dan-ger in the custom which It was desire ble to avoid But before I had time to sue for for giveness Virginia took oft the little gold band and after a moments hesita tion Hung it in to the lake And then slue looked straight at me with a brave show of defiance although the telltale mouth let me know that she was frightened fright-ened at what she had done 1 was more hurt than words can say and with a few swift strokes turned the boats head homeward But I couldnt bear to leave the ring behind and I de termined to dive for It I shipped my oars and took oft my coat Virginia pretended to take no notice Then watching her closely I began tp untie my shoe laces Still she pretended not to see Then I took oft my belt and shoes and placed the contents of my trousers pockets in a neat little heap In the bottom of the boat Virginias eyes met mine and she I said tremulously What are you go I ing to do George Dive for the ring Virginia I Can you swim I No A I I couldnt resist this fib It would I i I i have spoiled It all if I had told herAat I at Eton had held the school clMrj > plonshlp for three years In successlo I I George dear cant we let the men dredge for It How should we ever remember the exact spot where It went down No this with a slight touch of melodrama melodra-ma I must take the risk And Vlr J Ule If I should notnot come up dont you knowtell them that I fell over I board Virginia gave vent to a scream Not P one of those staccato notes that the f mention of a mouse will generally bring i from women but a genuine scream of po fear George pleaseplease dont I I nm so sorry I was Jealous and cross and wicked And the tears began to show themselves them-selves again so without more ado I went to the bow and took a header I found that the water was only about f ten feet deep but the ring was not to I be seen On coming up for breath I I found poor Virginia brandishing an our over the side of the boat with a view to saving my life If possible I seized It with much show of distress and waited until I got my breath Virginia I Implored me to come back Into the boat but I was obdurate After the r third dive I returned to the surface triumphantly holding out tho object of my search I swam to the side of the boat and taking hold of Virginias t left hand I placed the ring on her finger fin-ger We made many vows and prom lees and It was not before some minutes min-utes had expired that I began to real Ize that I was getting awfully cold r Clambering back into the boat with some dilllculty I pulled to tho house as quickly as I could As we came Insight In-sight of the lawn Virginia exclaimed Of course theres that horrid Mrs Carruthers waiting for you Horrid did you say Vlrglc Oh I forgot George dear but Mrs Carruthers Is there at any rate What will she think What shall I tell her Well say I caught a crab and overbalanced over-balanced myself Into tho water Hut do 1 look as If I had been crying cry-ing She did unmistakably but before 1 had time to answer her we arrived at the landing stage Mrs Carruthers greeted me with Why what on earth have you been doing Poor George fell Into the water replied Virginia with a winning smile and I saved his life with an oar Didnt I George All through dinner that evening Mrs Carruthers chaffed me unmercifully I bore her raillery with great fortitude and afterward when Virginia and I were sitting on tho piazza In front of the house we made a solemn resolution that we wouldnt break our engagement engage-ment agaIn for a whole calendar month at the very most Gilbert Burgess in Sketch |