dollars for a single ounce.

Heigho! I want neither necklace, brooch, nor bracelet. For where, pray,
would Lord Dolphin wear a breastpin, or how would he look with a string
of coral beads about his neck, or a bracelet pinched about his tail?

You needn't laugh so hard. I have seen Folks who hung too much jewelry
about themselves and seemed to think it becoming. A few pieces of nice
jewelry may be tasteful and ornamental, but when too much is worn, I
have a fancy that it might make a coral mite or an oyster want to laugh.

Pretty soon I must explain why an oyster might have a right to be amused
at seeing too many gems crowded on at once. But first you must hear
something funny about coral, something so silly, too, that even a fish
is almost ashamed to tell of it; but this was true long in the past,
Folks are much wiser now.

Long years ago there were Folks who believed that wearing a "charm,"
which often was a little piece of coral, perhaps made into an ornament,
would charm away harm or danger, and keep them safe from "the evil eye."

"Dear sakes!" you cry, "what was 'the evil eye'?"

Well, it is almost sad to think that any one could be so foolish, yet
when Folks know but little, they will catch up strange notions and
listen to silly signs without an atom of truth or common sense in them.
So some ignorant Folks once believed that a witch, or some witchy Folk
with an evil eye, might look upon them and cause them harm, or make them
meet some danger.