It is a saying that children use to make a promise. They will draw an X<span> over their heart with their finger and say </span> "Cross my heart, hope to die."<span> They may also add </span>"stick a needle in my eye."<span> to make the promise stronger. This shows that they are extremely serious about it.</span>
This is true, because if it was not true, it would not be stated in the bible
The setting of "Marigolds" is during the depression or the 30s. You know this because the story says, "The depression that gripped the nation was no new thing to us" and "the black workers of rural Maryland had always been depressed".