provided
with a new gold clasp and placed in a handsome presentation case, it
was a present fit for anyone. I always like to think that our English
teacher had the surprise of her life when it was placed in her hand. I
remember that she was greatly moved, and there were tears of joy in her
eyes. I did not hesitate to tell her that the idea had been mine, and
from that day she could not do enough for me.
But
alas, there came a time when she sickened. Day by day her sallow
complexion turned first yellow and then a greyish brown. She became as
thin and dry as a withered leaf. But until the last she did not miss a
lesson, for to her duty was duty, cost what it might. Then one day she
did not appear. We were alarmed. The police found her lying dead,
stretched fully clothed upon her bed, behind the locked door of her
single room. She had made a will leaving all her possessions to the
Holy Father in Rome. So my mother's coral necklet travelled to the
Eternal City and is now, maybe, among the treasures of the Vatican.
Mineralogists
refuse to class coral as a stone proper, because it is a substance
built up by minute sea creatures. But with all due regard to scientific
classification, I hold that the gemologist may speak of coral as a
stone, because it has the appearance, the hardness, the feel of stone,
and is worked like any other hard mineral substance. That is good
enough for those of us who are not concerned with subtle distinctions.
But if in speaking of coral you really wish to impress your friends with your superior knowledge, you can tell
