Grandma's Locket

We had every intention of providing you with some verifiable, informative content about fine jewelry, and we even dedicated our time and efforts to researching the information so that you may have only the best insight. However, in our research we came across this delightful story that made our “dry” information seem so much less pertinent….

This story was derived from a charming literary magazine called The Golden Road, the following text can be credited to Lucy Maud Montgomery.

This was a story my Aunt Jane told me about her grandma when she was a little girl. It’s funny to think of baking a locket, but it wasn't to eat. She was my great grandma but I’ll call her grandma for short. It happened when she was ten years old. Of course she wasn’t anybody’s grandma then. Her father and mother and her were living in a new settlement called Brinsley. Their nearest neighbor was a mile away. One day her Aunt Hannah from Charlottetown came and wanted her ma to go visiting with her. At first grandma's ma thought she couldn’t go because it was baking day and grandma's pa was away. But grandma wasn’t afraid to stay alone and she knew how to bake the bread so she made her ma go and her Aunt Hannah took off the handsome gold locket and chain she was wearing round her neck and hung it on grandma and told her she could wear it all day. Grandma was awful pleased, for she had never had any jewelry. She did all the chores and then was kneading the loaves when she looked up and saw a hobo coming in and he was an awful villainous-looking hobo. He didn’t even pass the time of day but just set down on a chair. Poor grandma was awful frightened and she turned her back on him and went on kneading the loaf cold and trembling-- that is, grandma was trembling, not the loaf. She was worried about the locket. She didn't know how she could hide it for to get anywhere she would have to turn round and pass him.

All of a sudden she thought she would hide it in the bread. She put her hand up and pulled it hard and quick and broke the fastening and kneaded it right into the loaf. Then she put the loaf in the pan and set it in the oven.

The hobo hadn’t seen her do it and then he asked for something to eat. Grandma got him up a meal and then he began prowling about the kitchen looking into everything and opening the cupboard doors. Then he went into grandma’s room and turned the bureau drawers and trunk inside out and threw the things in them all about. All he found was a purse with a dollar in it and he swore about it and took it and went away. When grandma was sure he was really gone she broke down and cried. She forgot all about the bread and it burned as black as coal. When she smelled it burning grandma run and pulled it out. She was awful scared the locket was spoiled but she sawed open the loaf and it was there safe and sound. When her Aunt Hannah came back she said grandma deserved the locket because she had saved it so clever and she gave it to her and grandma always wore it and was very proud of it. And grandma used to say that was the only loaf of bread she ever spoiled in her life.