Chapter O. K to Old Moll of O by Brewer's Readers Handbook

O. K to Old Moll

O. K., all correct.

“You are quite safe now, and we shall be off in a minute,” says Harry. “The door is locked, and the guard O. K.”—Buxton: Jennie of the Prince’s, iii. 302.

Okba, one of the sorc erers in the caves of Dom-Daniel “under the roots of the ocean.” It was decreed by fate that one of the race of Hodeirah would be fatal to the sorcerers; so Okba was sent forth to kill the whole race both root and branch. He succeeded in cutting off eight of them, but Thalaba contrived to escape. Abdaldar was sent to hunt down the survivor, but was himself killed by a simoom.

“Curse on thee, Okba!” Khawla cried. …
“Okba, wert thou weak of heart?

Okba, wert thou blind of eye?
Thy fate and ours were on the lot. …
Thou hast let slip the reins of Destiny.
Curse thee, curse thee, Okba!”
   —Southey: Thalaba the Destroyer, ii. 7 (1797).

O’Kean (Lieutenant), a quondam admirer of Mrs. Margaret Bertram of Singleside.—Sir W. Scott: Guy Mannering (time, George II.).

Olave, brother of Norna, and grandfather of Minna and Brenda Troil.—Sir W. Scott: The Pirate (time, William III.).

Old Age restored to Youth. The following means are efficacious:—

The fontaine de jouvence, “cui fit rajovenir la gent;” the water of life (q.v.); the fountain of Bimini; the river of juvescence at the foot of Olympus; the dancing water, presented by prince Chery to Fairstar; the water of the river Sybaris (q.v.); the broth of Medea. (See Medea’s Kettle, p. 691.)

(For instances, see Youth Restored.)

Old Armchair (The), a poem by Eliza Cook (1840).

Old Bags. John Scott, lord Eldon; so called because he carried home with him in sundry bags the cases pending his judgment (1751–1838).

Old Bona Fide , Louis XIV. (1638, 1643–1715).

Old Court Suburb (The), an historical account of Kensington and its celebrities by Leigh Hunt (1855).

Old Curiosity Shop (The), a tale by C. Dickens (1840). An old man, having run through his fortune, opened a curiosity shop in order to earn a living, and brought up a granddaughter named Nell [Trent], 14 years of age. The child was the darling of the old man; but, deluding himself with the hope of making a fortune by gambling, he lost everything, and went forth, with the child, a beggar. Their wanderings and adventures are recounted till they reach a quiet country village, where the old clergyman gives them a cottage to live in. Here Nell soon dies, and the grandfather is found dead upon her grave. The main character next to Nell is that of a lad named Kit [Nubbles], employed in the curiosity shop, who adored Nell as “an angel.” This boy gets into the service of Mr. Garland, a genial, benevolent, well-to-do man, in the suburbs of London; but Quilp hates the lad, and induces Brass, a solicitor of Bevis Marks, to put a £5 bank-note in the boy’s hat, and then accuse him of theft. Kit is tried, and condemned to transportation, but the villainy being exposed by a girl-of-all-work nicknamed “The Marchioness,” Kit is liberated and restored to his place; and Quilp is drowned.

Old Cutty Soames , the fairy of the mine.

Old Ebony, a punning synonym of Black-wood, editor of Blackwood’s Magazine (1777–1834).

Old English Baron (The), a tale by Clara Reeve (1777).