The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-12-01
OUR FAMILY OPAL.
By R. K. Munkittrick.

My great-grandfather was the first one
of the family to become the possessor Of
the opal A widower for the third time.
he engaged himself to my old Aunt Cor
nelia, and the opal was set for the en-
gagement rina
AS soon as t< had given her the ring he
began to regret his engagement. Aunt
COrnelia concl Ided that the old man was
cooling off in his attentions, but she
didn't blame him. She regarded it all as
iii luck. which she attributed to the opal
Now, another curious feature of the
case was that my at-grandfather's
eyes, from looking long and fondly into
Aunt Cornelia's, had suddenly acquired
peculiar habit of necessarily whirling, her
only infrmity.
A day or two later she noticed that my
great-grandfather's were whirling and
thought that he was mimicking her and
making light of her optical popularity.
She would listen to no word of explana-
tion, but broke the engagement on the
spot and handed him back the opal ring.
That night he made a misstep on the
way up stairs and sprained his ankle.
and on the following day a railroad was
1
ped from 100 to 60. He then had the
opal set In searfpin and gave it to one
of his nephews for birthday present.
Suddenly Bill's salary was cut down In
the fullness of Its bloom. His hair began
to fall out, and the doctor, not knowing
just what the matter was, ordered a sea
voyage on general principles. Fearing
shipwreck, Bill gave the opal scarfpin to
his brother before sailing. Bill went to
sea and returned with full head Of hair
and his salary restored.
After Bill had sailed his brother, who
went to the wharf to bid him goodby,
started up the street, when his hat blew
off and went spinning along so fast that
he could not overtake it, and a street ur-
| chin started the cry. stop thief!"
Others took up the shout. and finally
| crowd followed In hot pursuit, until he
| was overtaken and arrested. His ex-
planation was laughed at, the police the
DRY being that he had fed from the scene
Of his crime without his hat.
So Bills brother was locked up over
| night and had the modification of seeing
| his name In print in the morning, when
he was discharged.
| So he gave the opal to Tom, and Tom
was very glad to have it and lost no time
| In sticking 1t In his scarf Bills brother
| on the way home picked up $40 bill on
the sidewalk and when he arrived home
found man waiting to make arrange
ments to mortgage his property to him
for $4,000 at 6 per cent, a gilt edged in
vestment, which made him believe that
the other man had been presented with
an opal.
Tom bought a turkey on the way
home and left it in the train rack when
he stepped off. And when he went into
the house he was horrified to learn that
his wife had been cajoled into purchas-
Ing 81 worth Of gtee club tickets.
Il am surprised that you should yield
to the arguments of those ticket fends.
Indeed, you are Jewel of consistency"
he said, with biting sarcasm.
Talking about Jewels" she replied,
with vim equal to his own, 81 believe
that opal you have there has changed
our luck. Where did you get itY'
! cousin Luke gave 1t to me-"
THAT explains it. Luke would never
give you or any one else anything of any
! value to himself. What time did he give
it to your" asked his wife.
"At 2 o'clock this afternoon"
!. "And 1t was at 3 that l bought those
tickets. l didn't want them at all, be-
cause needed the 50 they cost to buy
some velvet and other things to cover my
old hat and make 1t do for winter and
thus save the price of new one and
give you a chance to buy an overcoat.
bad luck today?"
Tom.
"Of course you did," snapped his wife,
'and suppose you had counterfeit mon
ey palmed off on you in change. Just take
out your money and see."
II He fished some silver out of the pocket
, In which he carried his small change, and,
sure enough. there was a lead 80 cent
, piece.
THAT about cancels my purchase of
the glee club tickets, doesn't 2" she said,
with an air OF triumph seldom equaled in
a battle picture. "Now look at your
bills"
He thrust his hand into his vest pocket
and found that it had been cut out-sto
] len-money and all.
, She buried her face in her hands and
sobbed:
''Oh. Tom, why did you buy me those
ticketsT T
l. II didn't" Tom protested.
Eyes, you did, and no one else did
:, and'-
She was interrupted by crash. Tn
cook appeared, frightened out of her wits
and shouted Historically:
The boilers burst, and all the hair l
scalded off poor Fido."
So Tom rushed out and met me
: "Here's beautiful opal. scarfpin." b.
said "Wouldn't you like to have ity'
r l thought of the i'll luck it had brough
@ my poor greatgrandfather and Aunt Cor
y nelia, the antique virgin with the whirl
: Ing eyes. l was almost afraid to accep
the proffered bauble. I did summon u
courage and took it, however, determine
L. to dispose Of It In such a way that
Il would not be likely to cause any NOR
n trouble in the family.
l. So entered jewelry shop and, tossin
the opal careiessly on the velvet pad ths
il lay ON the glass case, said: "Will yo
n kindly appraise this so called preciou
stone. this opal? You as dealer don
share the superstition that possesses m'
and will therefore probably purchase
u at fair valuation. 1t has made troubl
l. enough for me and mine, and l want
IS rid myself of it at any price"
k The dealer examined the stone for
moment and said with smile;
IT "Opal your grandmother. This Is M
n an opal It's cats eye!-Criterion.
= Simply Horrible.
W 1hnn nax