Charms -- Fiction; Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction; Love stories; World War, 1914-1918 -- Fiction
Golden did not recognize any similarity between this sachet of
pink-and-mauve and the sun-faded ribbon trifle she had picked up on
Biscay beach. But Olwen smiled as she tucked into the place the mascot
that she wore and always would wear, even had she read that letter which
her Uncle held would shatter any belief in that "magic." The old
scientist summed her up as faultily as if he, too, had set out to be the
finest judge, etc....
"Golden," she said, "if I tell you about this, will you promise not to
laugh?"
And as they walked along to the hospital, she gave to her friend the
outlines of the story which you have just read ... so far as she knew
them herself.
Golden, listening, smiled above her leopard-skins. "Do you think all
these things would not have happened just as they did happen without the
wearing of a Charm?"
Olwen, with happy dreams in her eyes, did not reply.
After a pause her friend went on, softly, "When I look at you," she
said, "and when I look at your Fergus, and at my Jack, and at any one
else who is lovely and loving ... why, of course I believe there's a
Charm really, though it just can't be anything you could make up out of
a pinch of powder and a bit of ribbon. A Charm? Why, the world's full of
it! Didn't it send me over the sea to my Bird-boy? Didn't it bring your
men from Canada and France to you? Didn't it let us all meet in a
country that was sweet and friendly, though none of ours? Didn't it
work----why, all the time?"
"Sometimes----Often--Half the time," suggested Olwen, "it is supposed to
make such mistakes. It takes the wrong people...."
"We hear of those, just because they're the exceptions, I guess," smiled
her buoyant friend. "We aren't so talked about, we with the happy love
stories, that the Charm has worked!... Olwen, it's making stories now
for each of those splendid boys we saw go marching by, and for each of
the pretty girls who wishes them Luck. It never stops!... But you can't
see it. You can't hold it. You can only feel it is----"
"But then what is it?" Olwen asked. "What is it in itself?"
"Who knows?" Golden replied. "Does it matter if we _never_ know?"
THE END
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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