Downriledthebrowncascade。
"Twentydollars,
"saidMadame,liftingthemasswitharactisedhand。
"Giveittomequick,
"saidDella。
Oh,andthenexttwohourstriedbyonrosywings。Forgetthehashedmetahor。ShewasransackingthestoresforJim&aos;sresent。
Shefounditatlast。ItsurelyhadbeenmadeforJimandnooneelse。Therewasnootherlikeitinanyofthestores,andshehadturnedalloftheminsideout。Itwasalatinumfobchainsimleandchasteindesign,roerlyroclaimingitsvaluebysubstancealoneandnotbymeretriciousornamentation-asallgoodthingsshoulddo。ItwasevenworthyofTheWatch。AssoonasshesawitsheknewthatitmustbeJim&aos;s。Itwaslikehim。Quietnessandvalue-thedescritionaliedtoboth。Twenty-onedollarstheytookfromherforit,andshehurriedhomewiththe87cents。WiththatchainonhiswatchJimmightberoerlyanxiousaboutthetimeinanycomany。Grandasthewatchwas,hesometimeslookedatitontheslyonaccountoftheoldleatherstrathatheusedinlaceofachain。
WhenDellareachedhomeherintoxicationgavewayalittletorudenceandreason。Shegotouthercurlingironsandlightedthegasandwenttoworkreairingtheravagesmadebygenerosityaddedtolove。Whichisalwaysatremendoustask,dearfriends-amammothtask。
Withinfortyminutesherheadwascoveredwithtiny,closelyingcurlsthatmadeherlookwonderfullylikeatruantschoolboy。Shelookedatherreflectioninthemirrorlong,carefully,andcritically。
"IfJimdoesn&aos;tkillme,
"shesaidtoherself,
"beforehetakesasecondlookatme,he&aos;llsayIlooklikeaConeyIslandchorusgirl。ButwhatcouldIdo-oh!WhatcouldIdowithadollarandeighty-sevencents?
"
At7o&aos;clockthecoffeewasmadeandthefrying-anwasonthebackofthestovehotandreadytocookthechos。
Jimwasneverlate。Delladoubledthefobchaininherhandandsatonthecornerofthetablenearthedoorthathealwaysentered。Thensheheardhissteonthestairawaydownonthefirstflight,andsheturnedwhiteforjustamoment。Shehadahabitforsayinglittlesilentrayeraboutthesimlesteverydaythings,andnowshewhisered:
"PleaseGod,makehimthinkIamstillretty。
"ThedooroenedandJimsteedinandclosedit。Helookedthinandveryserious。Poorfellow,hewasonlytwenty-two-andtobeburdenedwithafamily!Heneededanewovercoatandhewaswithoutgloves。
Jimstoedinsidethedoor,asimmovableasasetteratthescentofquail。HiseyeswerefixeduonDella,andtherewasanexressioninthemthatshecouldnotread,anditterrifiedher。Itwasnotanger,norsurrise,nordisaroval,norhorror,noranyofthesentimentsthatshehadbeenrearedfor。Hesimlystaredatherfixedlywiththateculiarexressiononhisface。
Dellawriggledoffthetableandwentforhim。
"Jim,darling,
"shecried,
"don&aos;tlookatmethatway。IhadmyhaircutoffandsolditbecauseIcouldn&aos;thavelivedthroughChristmaswithoutgivingyouaresent。It&aos;llgrowoutagain-youwon&aos;tmind,willyou?Ijusthadtodoit。Myhairgrowsawfullyfast。Say&aos;MerryChristmas!&aos;Jim,andlet&aos;sbehay。Youdon&aos;tknowwhatanice-whatabeautiful,nicegiftI&aos;vegotforyou。
"
"You&aos;vecutoffyourhair?
"askedJim,laboriously,asifhehadnotarrivedatthatatentfactyetevenafterthehardestmentallabor。
"Cutitoffandsoldit,
"saidDella。
"Don&aos;tyoulikemejustaswell,anyhow?I&aos;mmewithoutmyhair,ain&aos;tI?
"
Jimlookedabouttheroomcuriously。
"Yousayyourhairisgone?
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