MY FIRE OPAL
AND OTHER TALES
SARAH WARNER BROOKS
MY FIRE OPAL
AND OTHER TALES
BY
SARAH WARNER BROOKS
AUTHOR OF "ENGLISH POETRY AND POETS"
BOSTON
ESTES AND LAURIAT
1896
Copyright, 1896
By Sarah Warner Brooks
Colonial Press:
C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
Electrotyped at the
Dickinson Electrotype Foundery
Dedication
TO THE BELOVED MEMORY OF
ISABEL CORNWELL
THESE TALES ARE GRATEFULLY AND LOVINGLY
DEDICATED BY HER GRANDDAUGHTER
THE AUTHOR
The Lilacs, January, 1896
PREFACE.
In the hope of interesting the reader in that insistent altruisticquestion of the hour—How may we best treat our convicted fellowsinners?—these simple tales (the outcome of intimate personalobservation "behind the bars," and woven, almost equally, of fact andfiction) are offered for his kindly-indulgent perusal.
Most sincerely,
West Medford, Jan. 31, 1896.
CONTENTS.
| Page | |
| My Fire Opal. | 1 |
| The Story Of John Gravesend | 37 |
| A Bunch Of Violets. | 65 |
| A Disastrous Sleigh-ride. | 91 |
| Tuckered Out. | 109 |
| A Prison Child. | 127 |
| Escaped. | 209 |
MY FIRE OPAL.
WELL, have it all your own way, Isabel," meekly conceded Alcibiades;"but really, now, you ought not to be left here alone. Couldn't youhave managed to invite company for a day or two—Aunt Maria, say, orAlice Barnes, or Emma and the baby?"
"Company!" mocked I, "that now is like a man! Here am I planning togive poor, overworked Cicely a day or two off, while you are all awayand the housework at its minimum, and straightway you proposecompany!—which, of course, implies regular meals and extra chamberwork.