226 THE GARDEN, YOU, AND I 



opal is my birth stone, and I've always had a fancy for 

 picking them up at odd times and carrying them with 

 me for luck!" 



"I thought that they are considered unlucky," said 

 Maria, holding one in the palm of her hand and watch- 

 ing the light play upon it. 



"That is as one reads them," said The Man; "to 

 me they are occasionally contradictory, that is all; 

 otherwise they represent adaptation to circumstances, 

 and inexpensive beauty, which must always be a 

 consolation." 



Then he gave us each one, "to start a collection," 

 he said. I shall have mine set as a talisman for the 

 Infant. I like this new interpretation of the stone, 

 for to divine beauty in simple things is a gift equal to 

 genius. 



Maria, however, insisted upon giving an old-fashioned 

 threepenny bit, kept as a luck penny in the centre of 

 her purse, in exchange. How can any woman be so 

 devoid of even the little sentiment of gifts as she is? 



A moment later The Man from Everywhere elec- 

 trified us by saying, in the most casual manner, "Now 

 that we are on the subject of opals, did I tell you that, 

 being in some strange manner drawn to the place, I 

 have made Opie an offer for the Opal Farm?" 



