itt herself,
not only the stone and the wealth, but the woman also, are yours to
dispose of as you see fit!"

Our hero was so struck aback at this unexpected turn that he knew not
upon the instant what reply to make. "Friend," said he, at last, "I
thank thee extremely for thy offer, and, though I would not be
ungracious, it is yet borne in upon me to testify to thee that as to
the stone itself and the fortune--of which thou speakest, and of which
I very well know the history--I have no inclination to receive either
the one or the other, both the fruits of theft, rapine, and murder.
The jewel I have myself beheld three times stained, as it were, with
the blood of my fellow-man, so that it now has so little value in my
sight that I would not give a peppercorn to possess it. Indeed, there
is no inducement in the world that could persuade me to accept it, or
even to take it again into my hand. As to the rest of thy generous
offer, I have only to say that I am, four months hence, to be married
to a very comely young woman of Kensington, in Pennsylvania, by name
Martha Dobbs, and therefore I am not at all at liberty to consider my
inclinations in any other direction."

Having so delivered himself, Jonathan bowed with such ease as his stiff
and awkward joints might command, and thereupon withdrew from the
presence of the charmer, who, with cheeks suffused with blushes and
with eyes averted, made no endeavor to detain him.

So ended the only adventure of moment that ever happened to him in all
his life. For thereafter he contented himself with such excitement as
his mercantile profession and his extremely peaceful existence might
afford.

Epilogue

In conclusion it may be said that when the worthy Jonathan Rugg was
married to Martha Dobbs, upon the following June, some mysterious
friend presented to the bride a rope of pearls of such considerable
value that when they were realized into money our hero was enabled to
enter into partnership with his former patron the worthy Jeremiah
Doolittle, and that, having made such a beginning, he by-and-by arose
to become, in his day, one of the leading merchants of his native town
of Philadelphia.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ruby of Kishmoor, by Howard Pyle

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