“Mollie’s ring!” she exclaimed, in a tone of great surprise, while her eyes flew to Clifford’s fine face, with a curious, searching look. “Why! it surely is the ‘magic cameo’ about which we have had so much sport with her!”
“Now, are you satisfied that I knew what I was talking about?” demanded Philip Wentworth in a tone intended only for Clifford’s ear.
He made no reply to the taunt, and there was a moment of awkward silence, when the professor, seeing that there was something amiss, yet not comprehending what it was, although he realized that Wentworth had done a rude thing, observed in a friendly tone:
“It is surely a remarkably fine bit of work, Faxon; but allow me to present you to Mr. Wentworth’s mother, Mrs. Temple, Mr. Faxon; also Mr. Rogers.”
Both gentlemen lifted their hats, and the lady acknowledged the presentation with gracious courtesy, after which the professor inquired of Mrs. Temple:
“Is there a peculiar or remarkable history connected with Mr. Faxon’s ring, which you appear to recognize?—you spoke of it as ‘the magic cameo.’”
“Oh, no, it is only a little family joke,” the lady laughingly replied; “we have a young friend who owns a cameo so exactly like this that it seems as if it must be the same, and she has always claimed that whenever she wore it something good never failed to happen to her. She became so thoroughly imbued with the idea that we used to laugh at her about her magic cameo. Of course, this cannot be the same, for I am sure that Mollie would never have parted with it under any ordinary circumstances. I am surprised, however, to find it duplicated; I did not suppose there was another like it in existence. I hope, Mr. Faxon, it will prove to be a mascot for you as well as for our little friend,” Mrs. Temple concluded, and smiling brightly up into the manly face above her.
“Mother, this is not a duplicate; this is Mollie’s ring,” Philip here interposed with a frown and note of impatience in his tones.
“Are you not a trifle rash, Phil, in making such an assertion?” his mother questioned with a gentle reproof, a slight cloud of annoyance sweeping over her face.
“I am sure I can prove it,” he returned loftily. Then, addressing Clifford, he inquired: “Have you any knowledge of a secret connected with this ring?”