“It’s my ring, I tell you,” said Miss Jeanie. “And if you don’t take it, I shan’t believe you’re coming to see me, and I won’t give you my address—there!”
What could I do? I took the ring.
When I got that night to Knoxville, I wrote at once to Jerry Sullivan. If they had spent two winters in Knoxville, he might have met them, or, at least, known something about them.
“Knoxville, June 30, 188—
“Dear Jerry: Tell me all you know about Miss Jeanie Bruce.
“Yours,
“H. Higginbotham.”
To which the answer came by telegram:
“H. Higginbotham, Knoxville:
“It would take too long.