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Page 23
She adjusted her glasses and took the plump little hand in hers for
inspection. "I always have thought that opals are the prettiest of all
the stones. Write the verse out for me, A.O., that's a good child. I'll
send it home for the family to see how important it is that I should be
protected by such a charm."
This from a senior, the dignified and exclusive Miss Ridgeway, put the
seal of approval on the fashion, and when, a week later, she appeared
with a beautiful Hungarian opal surrounded by tiny diamonds, with her
zodiac signs engraved on the wide circle of gold, every girl in school
wanted a birth-month ring.
Elise wrote home asking if agates were expensive, and if she might have
one. Not that she thought they were pretty, but it was the stone for
June, so of course she ought to wear one. The answer came in the shape
of an old heirloom, a Scotch agate that had been handed down in the
family, almost since the days of Malcolm the Second. It had been a
small brooch, worn on the bosom of many a proud MacIntyre dame, but
never had it evoked such interest as when, set in a ring, it was
displayed on Elise's little finger.
After that there was a general demand for a jeweller's catalogue which
appeared in their midst about that time. One page was devoted to
illustrations of such stones with a rhyme for each month. The firm which
issued the catalogue would have been surprised at the rush of orders had
they not had previous dealings with Girls' Schools. The year before
there had been almost as great a demand for tiny gold crosses, and the
year before for huge silver horse-shoes. This year the element of
superstition helped to swell the orders. When the verse said,
"The August born, without this stone,
'Tis said must live unloved and lone,"
of course no girl born in August would think of living a week longer
without a sardonyx, especially when the catalogue offered the genuine
article as low as $2.75. The daughters of April and May, July and
September had to pay more for their privileges, but they did it gladly.
When Cornie Dean read,
"Who wears an emerald all her life
Shall be a loved and honoured wife,"
she sold her pet bangle bracelet that afternoon for ten dollars, and
added half her month's allowance to buy an emerald large enough to hold
some potency.
Mary pored over the catalogue longingly when it came her turn to have
it. She liked her verse:
"Who on this world of ours their eyes
In March first open shall be wise.
In days of peril firm and brave,
And wear a bloodstone to their grave."
When she had considered sizes and prices for awhile she took out her
bank book and Christmas list and began comparing them anxiously. Betty,
coming into the room presently, found her so absorbed in her task that
she did not notice the open letter Betty carried, and the gay samples of
chiffon and silk fluttering from the envelope. She looked up with a
little puckered smile as Betty drew a chair to the opposite side of the
table, asking as she seated herself, "What's the matter? You seem to be
in some difficulty."
"It's just the same old wolf at the door," said Mary, soberly. "I have
enough for this term's expenses, all the necessary things, but there's
nothing for the extras. There isn't a single person I can cut off my
Christmas list. I've put down what I've decided to make for each one,
and what the bare materials will cost, and although I've added it up and
added it down, it always comes out the same; nothing left to get the
ring with."
She sat jabbing her pencil into the paper for a moment. "I wish there
were ways to earn money here as there are at some schools. There are so
many things I need it for. They'll expect me to contribute something to
the mock Christmas tree fund, and I want to get Jack something nice. I
couldn't take his own money to buy him a present even if there were
enough, which there isn't. I've already made him everything I know how
to make, that he can use, and men don't care for things they can't use,
but that are just pretty, as girls do. Just look what a beauty bright of
a watch-fob I've found in this catalogue."
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