Just think
of what you're giving me--a whole month of being just as happy as I
like! We can go back to the bungalows now. I don't mind being
congratulated one bit after this--do you?"
"N-no," said John a little dubiously. Then he laughed. "There's one
thing you've forgotten. There's always a ring when people are
engaged, even for four days."
Joy said nothing to this. She watched him while he slipped a
curious, chased dull gold band with a diamond sunk in it, from his
little finger. "It isn't a conventional solitaire sitting up on
stilts, but it will do, won't it?" he asked.
She held her little slim hand out for it, her face sparkling. His
were the long, slender, square-tipped fingers of the typical
"surgeon's hand," smooth and strong. But Joy's hands were little for
her build, which was not large, and the ring slid down her
engagement finger till she had to anchor it with a little gold band
from the other hand, pushed down over it.
"I'll take very good care of it, and polish it before I give it back
to you," she assured him.
He answered her on a sudden boyish impulse.
"I don't want you to give it back to me. You're to keep it.... It
can be your wishing ring that you said I brought you, Joy."
She smiled down at it, loose on her finger.
"Why, so it is--my wishing ring!" she sighed happily. She turned it
about her finger, and he saw her lips move. She was wishing. He
wondered what, but she did not offer to tell him.
Pages:
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78