( I I ! - . : .;, .. i . , - r . j . ,' ' t : .. ' .. '. 1 . ' " - iA.- ' . ; . : v VOL. XIV. THE TIMES. in Independent family Newspaper, II PDBLIBBID IVBRT TD1SDAT BT V. MOUTlMElt & CO.) TE1IMH t INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. f 1.30 PER YEAR, POSTAGE FREE. SO CTS. FOR HKMTIH, To M.bnrlbrs residing In this couutt, htn have no piwtait to pay, it illaitoiiHt of 2fl rontu from t.lin ahoro termi will be made It payment Is made In Advance. , t : mr AdvertlilnR rales furnished upon appllca 'tlon. THE LOST RING. A Christmas Story. ' Tbe YY yellow Immortelle In It make It look like a real star banging there In the shadow of the choir," Raid Laura Wlnthrop, who was weaving a long garland of evergreen. It was Christmas Eve, and the young people of the parish were decorating the church, while the choir was rehearsing Christmas music " Miss Gilbert has both the eye and he skillful fingers of an artist," said Mr. Herman Leeds, a young man too exquisite in bis personal appearance, in a voice which had something emotional In its ring. He was always emotional, and always particularly devoted to some young lady. This month the young lady happened to be Elsie Gilbort. "Thanks, Mr. Leeds," said Elsie, ..... laughing. "I always did long to be rnppreclated, and now I really believe tuat I am beginning to be. No one ever noticed my artistic abilities be fore." Mr. Leeds looked tenderly incredulous. Tom Hay ward, who had just returned from Europe, and had been In love with Elsie for three years, bit his Hps furi ously, and handled a huge bunob of fir as though he would like to have tried its strength on the head of this devoted young man. Then, as if be had con eluded to be Indifferent instead, he drop ped the bough, and joined a group who were trimming an arched window on the other side of the house. But he could not refrain from casting jealous glances over his shoulder. Elsie and "that idiot Leeds," as he always dubbed him in his mind, were, to all seeming, enjoying a lively, bit of flirtation in a little bower of green which stood tem porally in a dusky corner. "Peaoe on earth, good will toward men," sweetly chanted the choir, as if in rebuke to bis angry and excited feelings. But the holy Christmas music found no echo in his breast. - : -. ' , "OMr. Hay ward, please como hero and help us make these provoking let ters," called Laura , Wlnthrop. " They have enough workers on that side of the house already, and wo shall not allow you to desert your post."-1" " Mr. Leeds is such an efficient work er, that I did , riot suppose you needed my. poor assistance," said he, with a touch of sarcasm in his voice, though he cam back to her. "Well, you see, Hay ward, you haven't had the experience that I have. Now I assist nearly all the prominent ladles in our society in decorating for receptions and that sort of thing. Mrs. Marchmont always says, ' O Mr. Leeds, what should I do without your taste V It is to you I owe all my success in my little enter tainments,' " said Mr. Leeds, with an air of perfect complacency. ' . ' Elsie's eyes twinkled with fun. , Tom experienced a great sense of relief. "She cannot care for such a puppy," he thought, "she Is amusing herself with him." But the next minute he caught the gleam of Elsie's ring on his finger, the odd little serpent ring which he himself had given her as a parting gift on bis departure for Europe a year and a half ago. There had been no engagement between them. Elsie wasn't quite sure that she cared for him enough to marry him, she said, and he might see some one, during his absence, who . would cause him to forget her.- She thought it would be better to let the long parting serve as a test of ther affection for each other. But she consented to wear his ring until she should care for some one tl&o more than she cared for him. And NEW BLOOMPIELD, !P.A., TUESDAY, Tom weutaway with an anxious mlml. He arrived In the city only yesterday, and had not yet found an opportunity to speak to Elsie alone, though he called at her mother's house that morning. But he had experienced a great eullsfao. tlon to find the ring still upon her finger, and then something In her man ner assured him that she was not at least wholly indifferent to his bumble self. But now all was over, though she might have expressed her preference for Leeds in a more delicate and considerate manner. Tom felt Insulted, and in spite of MIbb Winthrop's persistence in teach ing him, declared that he was totally Incapable In the art of making letters, strolled away into the gallery, where he assisted for a while in wreathing tbe railings with garlands of holly. Elsie colored with vexation. 8he had noted his glance when it fell upon the ring, and the half-contemptuous, half surprised expression of his face as he turned away, after fixing one keen, re proachful look upon her. " Mr. Leeds, pray give me back my ring," she said. "I am coutlnually startled by thinking I have lost it, when I missed it from my fluger." " But you will lose it, it 1b very loose, you know ; and you dropped It luto my hand when you were tying one of the wreaths. I think that was very signif icant," with a glance which he meant to be killing into her flushed face. , " It seems to be very precious to you really. A gift from some one V" " It is precious Mr. Leeds. The fact that it slipped off my fluger into your hand is significant of my own careless ness. I usually wear a little guard to keep it on, but In my haste to-night, I forgot it. Laura came for me before I was ready to go out. I went out of town with mamma thls afternoon, and had only just returned." And after more soft speeches on the part of Mr. Leeds, and almost angry perseverance from Elsie, she finally suc ceeded in obtaining the pretty trinket which had caused such a misunderstand ing. But it was too late to display it to Tom in its accustomed place. He had already left the church. "Never mind he will come to see me to-morrow," she said to herself, with an effort at re assurance. " And then he really could not have any idea that I fancied Herman Leeds." " Mr. Hay ward used to be very oblig ing and genial before he went abroad, but now be seems quite like a bear," said Laura Wlnthrop, struggling with a perverse spray of holly. " It was pro voking in him to go away when we need help so much, extremely ungallaut too." Elsie said nothlnar. but worked awav with a will, and before very long she bad forgotten her vexation, and was Joining in a hearty frolic with the other young people, who bad grown hilarious as cue evening wore on. Tney fell to pelting each other with flowers and evergreen sprays. They wound long, prickly garlands around each other. They bid behind dusky pillars. They tried all sorts of odd effects with their graceful decorations, and all the echoes in the vast building repeated their merry burst of laughter, until the nolite organist was obliged to speak In behalf of the choir, whose music they com- pletely overpowered with their wild merriment. But when Elsie was about to draw oh her glove in preparation to ko bome.she 'ound that her ring was gone. " O my ring I my ring I" she cried. " I would not have lost It for the world." " But if you lost it here in the church we shall surely find it," said every one confidently. And every one Joined In the searoh, but It was not to be found. " Perhaps it dropped while you were at work, and lodged in the foliage or one of the wreaths," suggested one. And the sexton promised to examine all the decorations carefully wheu they should be taken down, 'and to search the church faithfully by daylight the next morning. . But tbe search by daylight was of no avail, neither was the ring found when the decorations were tuk sn down some weeks afterward. i Elsie waited at horn all th next ky, expecting to see Tom Hayward, Sut he did not make bis appearance. She look- for him In church on Christmas morn ing, but he was not there. She looked for him every day for a week, but be did not come. Then she heard that be had left town, ' that be had become a partner in the law-firm In Philadelphia to which his brother belonged, and did not think of visiting Bralton again for some time. And this was true. Tom did leave town the very next morning after meet ing Elsie in the church, lie was stay, lu Bralton only on Elsie's account, his own family had left there during his ab. seuce, and now ho no longer desired to see Elsie. Still he could not forget her. Her bright piquant face flushed before blm in his business hours, her musical voice rang la his ears, even lu court, wheu fierce arguments were clashing, and his own words were either to win blm victory, or bring him defeat. He planned telling sentences for tomorrow's pleas, and the downfall of his opponent before lie slept, but he dreamed of the serpent ring which he gave Elsie, and woke In the morulug with nothing In hlsmiudbutan almost overwhelming desire to see her. A year passed in this way, at the end of which business called hltn to Bral ton. , It was the night before Christmas Eve. Tom had been restlessly promen ading the streets since dinner, and many tblBp besides business were in his mink He wondered if Elsie wero mar ried Leeds yet. He .thought not, for he had carefully read tbe marriage list in the Bralton papers, and he had seen no notice of any such event. He de bated in bis mind the question whether be should call at her mother's house or no, and tried to Imagine how she would receive blm If he did so. Then a sud den turn in the street brought blm di rectly opposite Bt. Paul's Church, where he had met her just one year ago that night. '''"'" The church as then was brilliantly lighted, and a group of young people ran up the steps, laughing gayly. Through the open door, as they passed In, poured a flood of jubilant Christmas melody, and he caught a glimpse of a great cloud of greenery, with bright, flushed faces in the midst of It. "Elsie is there," be thought, and moved by an irresistible impulse, he crossed the street, and entered the church. " Peace on earth, good will toward men," chanted tbe choir, while the pure, lofty melody seemed In reality like the voices of tho an geld of the Lord. And the soft undercurrent of happy laughter, which arose from tbe pictur esque groups whose fingers wreathed the holly and the mistletoe, was in sweet accord with the higher strains. Tbe odor of flowers and pines mingled with the sweet sounds like frankincense. The ruddy light flashed down to find the scarlet glow of berries in the dark, green gloom of foliage, to dance in bright eyes, on scarlet Hps and golden hair. It was a pretty scene which Tom gazed upon as he stood for a few minutes in the shadow of the gallery ; but Elsie was not there. Leeds was looking un utterable things in the face of a strange blonde girl, while with his long white womanish fingers he fashioned what was evidently intended to be the Star of Bethlehem. Laura Wlnthrop, brisk and commanding as usual, was flitting hither and thither, with long garlands of evergreen banging over her shoul der. "Why, Mr. Hayward, is It really you r" she exclaimed, as he moved to ward her. "I thought you had forsaken Bralton entirely. But I am so glad to see you, especially Just now,", she began after. Tom bad sufficiently explained his sudden appearance. " There is no one tall enough to trim these pillars without tbe aid of a step-ladder, and tbe step ladders are all in use. You would not appear in our midst like some Christmas fairy every year, if you did not wish to make yourself of use." " It Is early yet, and Elsie may make her appearance after all," -eald Tom to himself, as be good-naturedly applied himself to the task assigned blm, while a dozen or so of old acquaintances came up to give him a merry greeting. . . After a while he managed to inquire for Elsie, saying, Indifferently enough, that he supposed she never failed to as DECEMBER 31, 1880. NO. CI. sist In decorating the church for Christ mas. The color rose In his cheek in spite of himself, however, and quick keen Laura Wlnthrop perceived It. "Elsie," said she. "Why, haveu't you heard V When Shaw & Street's banking-house failed, her mother and she lost all their fortune, They do not coma here to church any more. They have moved into a little bouse on May field Street, just on the outskirts of the city, you know, and Elsie gives inuslo lessons as a means of support." " No, I had not heard," said Tom with an effort at perfect coolness, though he commenced to tear down the decora tions which he had Just adjusted, with his nervous fingers. " She's a brave little soul as ever lived," pursued Miss Laura, " but too proud. She prefers to shun her old ac quaintances as a general thing." "I wonder If she would shun me ?" thought Tom, resolving to find her that very night, though, since he had taken the task of entwining the pillars he muBt remain to finish It, but be would do that speedily. " I have an engagement at quarter past eight," he announced to MUs Wln throp, who was loatb to allow blm to depart; " but until that time I shall be most happy to serve you." And at the same time Indulging in a lively conversation with the gay girls around blm, he decorated with satisfy ing skill and swiftness. " You have such delightfully long arms, Mr. Hayward," lisped a pretty little maiden, who stood on tip-toe to reach a strip of plaited holly Into his hand. Tom peered behind the pillar to see where to fasten the garland, placing his eye close to the chink behind it and the wall. Something glittered strangely in the dust in the little groove where the ornamental scrolls of tho pillar were Joined to the wall. Tom investigated the mystery, and picked up the serpent ring which was lost a year ago. He quietly placed it in bis pocket, keeping his own counsel. How did It get into such a queer hiding place y Did it be come entangled In the foliage which was banging above, and then drop Into the groove Y An hour later Tom rang at the door of the tiny woodtn bouse where Elsie had taken up her abode. What a contrast It was to the fine old mansion where the was born ! Elsie, herself, answered the summons looking much the same that she did one year ago, only a little thinner and paler, and more dignified and womanly. ' Her face lighted when she recognized Tom, and the old brlght.dimpled smile, which bad enslaved his heart In years gone by, made bim welcome. Tben as if she had forgotten herself, a shade of dignity and L coldness came over her manner. But Tom would not be chilled by this, and taking the ring from bis pocket, he held it up for Inspection, saying in a voice which fairly trembled with eagerness, and with a face full of anxiety, " Elsie, what would you have done with this ring if you hadn't lost it t" " I should have worn it always," said Elsie the ploture of bewilderment. : "But I saw Hon tbe finger of that silly Leeds, myself." " Yes," said Elsie, " It was too large forme, I usually wore a smaller ring with it for a guard, but that night I dressed in a hurry and forgot the guard. It slipped from my finger, and Mr. Leed picked it up, and placed it playfully up on bis own finger. I did not allow him to wear it ten minutes, however." " What a jealous fool I was," groaned Tom. " Afterward I lost it from my finger again," continued Elsie, who was blush ing very much, " and I supposed that it was lost forever. " Tom explained how be had chanced to find it. "Oh, yes, I remember having dec orated two or three of the pillars, mount ed on a step-ladder," said she. " I re member, too, that I was obliged to reach into very small spaces wbere lu some places they stood nearly against tbe wall lu order to fasten the wreaths and it was as much as ever that I was able to get my band luto these spaces. I must have lost It then." Tom was beginning to look eloquent: but, before be was able to give vent t this eloquence, Elsie's mother appeared on the scene. He did not leave the bouse until near ly midnight, and before be left, though the three conversed on Indifferent sub jects, a sort of understanding existed be tween him and his lady love, On Christmas morning he placed an other ring on Elsie's finger, which meant more than did the ruby-eyed ser pent, which had caused so much sorrow for both. Then tbey walked to church together. It was a bright, frosty morn ing. Bells were ringing choirs chanting even the very sunshine loenied to praise the Lord. " Last Christmas," said Tom, "was the blackest and most wretched day I ever spent In my life, and I spnt it in the train hurrying away from you, be cause I thought you cared fur Lteds. To-day is the brightest Chrlsmas I ever spent thus far." " I was Just contrasting the two days in tbe same way," laughed Elsie. " I expected that you would be atchuroh, and would walk home with me, and was so disappointed that you were not there that I beard neither choir nor sermon." " I never knew what beautiful days were until I saw you," said a high pit cbed but extremely tender masculine voice. Just behind. And Tom and Elsie walked very slow ly, in order to see what other radiantly happy couple were out tbat morning. Elsie's eyes wore sparkling with fun. "It is Mr. Leeds," said she; "and this is bis seventh love aflalr, to my cer tain knowledge, since be took a freak to talk nonsense to me." Ms and Betsey. One day a bear walked out of the woods and, all uninvited, entered tho bumble home where a man and his wife Betsey were sitting. At sight of his brulnshlp the man arose with a yell of terror and, without thought of his wife, hastened to climb a place of refuge on top of an old Dutch clock that stood in one corner of tbe room. The more val iant Betsey stood ber ground, and seis ing a long poker fiercely attacked the bear, and did not desist, in spite of the game defense which be made, until she had him stretched dead at ber feet, ner lord and master from his safe perch watched the combat between her and tbe bear with evident Interest, and ever and anon kept shouting : " Give it to him, Betsey," "Hit him another wipe across the bead," " Smash his infernal skull," etc. As soon as be became satis fied tbat the brute was dead and there was no danger of bis " coming to," he hastened to descend from the clock and summon the neighbors for miles around saying to all those whom be met, " I want you to coma to our bouse and see tbe bear tbat me and Betsay have Just killed." A Too Sudden Application. V The following incident is related of tbe venerable Dr. Nesbltt, formerly president of Dickinson College, Car lisle. "It amazes me that minister don't write better sermons. I am sick of the dull prosy affairs I" said a lady in the presence of Dr. Nesbltt. " But it is no easy matter, my good woman to write sermons," suggested the Doctor. " Yes," rejoined the lady, " but you are so long about it. I could write one in half tbe time, if I only bad a text." " Ob, if a text is all you want," said Dr. Nesbltt, " I will furnish that. Take this one from Solomon : ' Itls better to dwell In a corner of a house top than with a brawling womau in a wide house.' " " Do yo mean me, sir ?" inquired the lady, quickly. ! "Oh, my good woman," was the re sponse, " you will never make a aer monizer. You are too soon in your appli cations." 3 Were all drunkards removed from the world, and moderate drinking still permitted, in a short time the aota would be as abundant as now. Tbe habit of moderate drinking la the seed of a heavy harvest of drunkard. (J-Let it not be Imagined that the life of a good Christian must neoeeiarily be a life of melancholy and gloominess; for he only resigns some pleasures to en joy others infinitely better.