RUTH BABCOCK was seated at the dresser curling her hair when her aunt entered the room. "Going out tonight, Ruth?" "Yes, Mr. King and I are going to drive to Zala."
"Anything of interest going on?"
"Yes, a very interesting affair—rather private—only a select few invited, you know."
When her aunt left the room Ruth fell into a reverie. She thought of the past years of anxiety and hardship; they were behind her now. The last few months had removed so much of care and restored so much of the lightness of heart that she had known before her father was injured that she felt like a new creature.
Jim Stover had been convicted of fraud and forgery and sentenced from ten to twenty years in the penitentiary. John Hinds, who was the principal witness against Stover, was sentenced to a short term in the penitentiary but was paroled on account of his poor health. Babcock and Watson had recovered through civil suits the value of the bank stock of which Stover had defrauded them. Mr. Babcock had been operated on by Dr. Lilly and had fully recovered. He now remembered every detail of the transaction by which Stover came into possession of the bank. With the return of his money and restored health he again engaged in business. As Ruth thought of the restored health of her father and the love of the strong young man who had been such a good friend and gallant suitor she felt that she had every reason to be thankful, and that there certainly never had lived a happier mortal than she.
It was seven o'clock when Harold called for her in his limousine. It was a balmy May evening. The breezes from the meadows and pastures were laden with the breath of wild flowers. Young rabbits hopped into the hedges along the way and occasionally a foolish one would get in front of the car and try to outrun it. A red bird in a hedge row was singing a blithe song. Harold stopped the car that they might enjoy the music. It was still light enough for them to discover the cause of his joy. He was singing to his mate, who as a good wife and homemaker, was on a nest nearby. As they rode past farm houses they heard the lowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep. When they passed near a pond they heard a bull-frog with a basso-profundo serenading his lady love. What a night for lovers!
"Harold," said Ruth, "you remember that I won the three wishes when we pulled the wish bone?"
"Yes, and I won the two."
"Mine have all come true."
"What were they? You told me that when they came true you would tell me."
"I wished that my father would get well; that you would land the hotel job at the capital, and that I would get an increase in wages. They all came true, but my increase in wages came from a different source than I had expected. Now you must tell me what your wishes were."
"Only one of mine has come true."
"What was it?" she asked.
"I mustn't tell until the other one comes true. You know you said that if one told before all of the wishes came true the unfulfilled ones would not come true."
"I know I did, but I believe that part of the wish charm is superstition. I don't think it will make any difference. Come on and tell me."
"Oh, no, young lady, you don't work me like that. I am not taking any chances."
When they arrived at Zala they drove at once to the parsonage where the old pastor who had preached Ruth's mother's funeral resided. A half dozen of Ruth's girl friends were at the gate to meet them. "We have been here waiting for almost an hour," one of the girls said.
In the minister's little study Ruth and Harold clasped hands, symbolizing the union of their lives in love, while their vows were being solemnized, which bound them—even unto death.
On the way home Harold said, "Now, Ruth, I can tell you the wishes; the other one has come true. I wished that I might be able to help your father secure the money that had been stolen from him, and I think you can guess what the other was."
"It must have been that you would get to Zala without having any engine trouble or puncturing a tire," she said, laughing.
"You are very dense, my darling, my wife," he said, as he put his arm around her and kissed her.
"Now be careful. You can't drive with one hand. You w............