The Diamond Mines

Captain Crewe writes from India about a friend from his school days who has appeared unexpectedly and brought with him the chance of a fortune. The friend, he explains, owns land in which diamonds have been discovered and is developing the mines. He has given Crewe the opportunity to become a partner in the scheme. The expected fortune is dizzying to think about.

The word "diamonds" reaches the schoolroom and electrifies it. Sara, who translates everything into story, describes for Ermengarde and Lottie the dark underground passages, the sparkling walls, the dark men with heavy picks working in the light of lanterns. She gives the mines the atmosphere of the Arabian Nights, and the younger children believe every word. Lottie insists on having the story retold every evening.

Lavinia tells Jessie she doesn't believe in mines full of diamonds. Jessie points out that people have to get them from somewhere. The sparring is funny and light, but Burnett is placing the reader in the last comfortable chapter of Sara's good years. The diamond mines are about to become the pivot on which the entire novel turns. For now, they are still a story Sara tells at bedtime.