The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte

This is a strikingly interesting but sad short story. It is interesting because the camp full of outlaws turn into a “sacred precinct” with people who wear clean clothes and wash their faces twice a day thanks to the arrival of a baby, who is christened under the name of Tommy Luck. Roaring camp becomes whispering place where Man of War Jack sings a lullaby consisting of 90 stanzas to The Luck. Everybody loves the baby. Above all, Kentuck, whose finger is caught and is held “fast for a moment” by the baby, loves him most. It is sad because in the end, “the pride, the hope, the joy, the Luck, of Roaring Camp” dies held by Kentcuk in a flood. They “drifted away into the shadowy river that flows forever to the unknown sea.” How poetical the ending is! Hart knows how to handle words; she uses formal words where colloquial expression does, like “Profanity was tacitly given up in these sacred precincts.” A happy ending is good, but a sad ending can impress the reader more.