A Sappho of Green Springs

Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. Harte moved to California in 1853, and worked there in a number of capacities -- as a miner, a teacher, a messenger, and a journalist. His story, "The Luck of Roaring Camp," appearing in "The Overland Monthly" magazine, propelled Harte to nationwide fame.

"A Sappho of Green Springs" is a collection of four longer tales, including "Sappho," the title story, "The Chatelaine of Burnt Ridge," "Through the Santa Clara Wheat," and "A Maecenas of the Pacific Slope."

"A Sappho of Green Springs" features a recurring Harte character, the gambler Jack Hamlin. A caller has come to the offices of the "Excelsior" magazine, seeking the identity of a writer. He's a lumberman from Mendocino, struck by the truth of a poem submitted by a writer known as White Violet, and hopes to meet her. The editor explains that he cannot give out identities, but will write to White Violet if desired, and if the author consents, provide an address. Jack reads the poem, agrees on its merits, and makes a bet with the editor that he can find the writer. Jack is a gambler, but this is a different sort of bet.