“Mistress Lorna, this is not the ring of any
giant. It is nothing more nor less than a very
ancient thumb-ring, such as once in my father’s
time was ploughed up out of the ground in our farm,
and sent to learned doctors, who told us all about
it, but kept the ring for their trouble. I will
accept it, my own one love; and it shall go to my grave
with me.” And so it shall, unless there
be villains who would dare to rob the dead.
Now I have spoken about this ring (though I scarcely
meant to do so, and would rather keep to myself things
so very holy) because it holds an important part in
the history of my Lorna. I asked her where the
glass necklace was from which the ring was fastened,
and which she had worn in her childhood, and she answered
that she hardly knew, but remembered that her grandfather
had begged her to give it up to him, when she was
ten years old or so, and had promised to keep it for
her until she could take care of it; at the same time
giving her back the ring, and fastening it from her
pretty neck, and telling her to be proud of it.
And so she always had been, and now from her sweet
breast she took it, and it became John Ridd’s
delight.
All this, or at least great part of it, I told my
mother truly, according to my promise; and she was
greatly pleased with Lorna for having been so good
to me, and for speaking so very sensibly; and then
she looked at the great gold ring, but could by no
means interpret it. Only she was quite certain,
as indeed I myself was, that it must have belonged
to an ancient race of great consideration, and high
rank, in their time. Upon which I was for taking
it off, lest it should be degraded by a common farmer’s
finger. But mother said “No,” with
tears in her eyes; “if the common farmer had
won the great lady of the ancient race, what were
rings and old-world trinkets, when compared to the
living jewel?” Being quite of her opinion in
this, and loving the ring (which had no gem in it)
as the token of my priceless gem, I resolved to wear
it at any cost, except when I should be ploughing,
or doing things likely to break it; although I must
own that it felt very queer (for I never had throttled
a finger before), and it looked very queer, for a
length of time, upon my great hard-working hand.
And before I got used to my ring, or people could
think that it belonged to me (plain and ungarnished
though it was), and before I went to see Lorna again,
having failed to find any necessity, and remembering
my duty to mother, we all had something else to think
of, not so pleasant, and more puzzling.
CHAPTER XXXVI
JOHN RETURNS TO BUSINESS
[Illustration: 299.jpg Guy Fawkes]
Now November was upon us, and we had kept Allhallowmass,
with roasting of skewered apples (like so many shuttlecocks),
and after that the day of Fawkes, as became good Protestants,
with merry bonfires and burned batatas, and plenty
of good feeding in honour of our religion; and then
while we were at wheat-sowing, another visitor arrived.
